Book Review: Mockingjay (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 390

Source: Bought

Summary (STOP READING if you haven't read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, plan to read them, and want to be surprised) :

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.


It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.


The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost. (From Good Reads)
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Last year I read, but did not review, Catching Fire. I didn't read any reviews of it, either, because nothing anybody said was going to stop me from reading that book. I feel the same way about Mockingjay, but I'm reviewing it anyway because I can't stop thinking about it.

Mockingjay is a fitting end to The Hunger Games series, but I can't call it satisfying. Katniss and Peeta have become two of my favorite fictional characters, and it's not a spoiler to say that they--and the reader--endure many difficult scenes in this book. Author Suzanne Collins dials the brutality of the series up a notch, and Katniss is forced to choose how violent she will be outside the arena. Katniss is physically strong, but after the last two novels she's emotionally broken, and Collins doesn't gloss over that; she doesn't grant any of the main characters a magic protagonist bubble, and she bravely allows the logical, dark reality of her fictional world to overshadow what readers may want for the characters. Be prepared for mixed feelings.

That said, the close of Mockingjay isn't without hope, and the novel does have its fun, humorous moments. Readers can also expect a closer look at colorful, hedonistic, and absurd Capitol ideas and customs. (There's a shop that sells fur undergarments.)  As for the writing, I've disliked the pacing in all three Hunger Games books, and for me Mockingjay alternated between unputdownable and annoyingly slow and repetitive. Mockingjay invites many questions about the ethics of revenge and when--if ever--violence is acceptable. Also, a lot of horrible things happen, and people die in unthinkable ways. These scenes, of course, are narrated in Katniss's matter-of-fact voice, and she's too busy fighting and being the face of the rebellion to feel the full emotional impact. And thank goodness the emotions aren't all there, or readers would be nervous wrecks after Mockingjay.

All in all, certain plot elements felt too convenient, and if you're looking for flawless prose, you won't find it here. What you will find, though, are fascinating, fully drawn characters and an entertaining and challenging read that demands thought and discussion about ends, means, and even storytelling. Most readers of The Hunger Games series already have it on their To Be Read list, and anyone who read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and didn't hate the books owes it to themselves to see how Katniss's story--and that awful cliffhanger in Catching Fire--turns out.