Review - Mockingjay

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins

Book Three (THG Series)
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction - Dystopia
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: Aug. 24, 2010
Edition: Hardcover
Page Count: 390
Source: Library

Goodreads Synopsis:  
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.

Review: I had big hopes for this book (HUGE, in fact). I think that is common when it comes to the final book in every series. You have spent time and energy reading more than one book about the same characters and plot, and you hope that it will all come together in a way that leaves you satisfied. NOTE: I do not mean that no one should ever be killed off and they should all live happily ever after. I DO believe that the ending should follow along with the ideas that were created in book one and beyond. Due to this, there were quite a few things that happened in this book that I was not happy about at all. I will be sure to make my point without giving any spoilers, I promise.

When District 13 first came into play, I was mostly confused. Sure, I guess that it made sense that they may not have all died when the Capitol tried to destroy them,  but it seemed a little unbelievable that there was suddenly a whole town of people living undergrounds and avoiding the wrath of the Capitol. Some people might believe that this was just fine, but I am still trying to make complete sense of it in my mind. Despite the threat of possible weapons, the Capitol does not seem to fear anyone, so I'm just a bit surprised by the whole thing. 

Certainly, this book proves the point that corruption leads to more corruption. You want to believe that there is a good guy somewhere, but they seem to be difficult to find. I guess this bothers me. I know that we have Katniss as the heroine, but everyone else is a little wishywashy, and seems to remain this way through the entirety of the novel. You want those characters that you know are trustworthy,  but it is difficult to find them throughout the novel, leaving our main character much more vulnerable than I think was fair to her. 

Speaking of Katniss as the heroine, I have a hard time believing that is the case after I finished the series. I wanted to believe it, desperately I wanted to, but it was not there. I suppose I was thinking back to book one, and focusing on what things Katniss wanted badly; enough to volunteer as tribute at the seventy-fourth Hunger Games. I expected the ending resolution to be something with that desire, with her need to complete her mission. I believe that Katniss is left to flail and fail as a hero in the novel, and that does bother me a lot. We want to inspire our readers, especially young adults, and I feel like the ending lacked a lot of things they would hope for in the novel. They do not see that sometimes tough things are possible, they just learn that life is always going to tackle you, and you might be lucky if you get up again. 

Honestly, the whole ending bothered me altogether. Once again, I promise that I will not give any spoilers, but I was not happy with how the novel was wrapped up. Or how it was not wrapped up, actually. There were a lot of loose ends that were not tied up, a lot of questions left unanswered, which left me as a frustrated reader when I was done with the series. I feel that the ending was quite rushed, far too much, and there were several more details that I wanted to see at the end that I was not given. It was upsetting after reading through three books. 

Of course, the book did have some redeeming qualities. Finnick became one of my favorite characters after reading/watching Catching Fire, so I was thrilled that we received his back story in Mockingjay. That may have been one of my favorite parts of the book, in fact. Finnick is so charming that it is difficult not to fall in love with him, I think. He certainly made the book much more enjoyable. Along with that, I have always been a huge Katniss fan, and she showed herself as strong and protective, despite all that she had to go through. Overall, I wish that a lot of things would have been written differently in this book, or perhaps that we could have received much more detail towards the end. 

Rating: 2.0/5.0