Mockingjay

This book gave me trouble because of the triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta. I almost thought as I was reading that Collins was trivializing everything else in the book because though there was obviously so much else going on in the book that were so much more important she still chose to focus on something as petty as a conversation between Gale and Peeta on who Katniss would eventually choose.

I liked this book because it was smart, it was real, and it was so very well written. Seeing all the romance she tried so hard to inject just brought that down. But somewhere in the last couple chapters of part 3 she redeemed herself and I found myself feeling what Katniss was feeling and crying when Katniss was crying.This trilogy is powerful because Collins can write emotion with the best of them. Hands down, this is one of the greatest young adult trilogies to ever be written. It's nice to be reminded that though the young adult genre is usually filled with useless fluff there are still brilliant writers out there pushing the boundaries of the genre every day.

“What's with this book?” the checker at Target asked me, as he scanned Mockingjay and then bagged it for me. “Everybody's buying this book!”



I'd held off for six days. But I could not wait any longer. Within an hour, I'd bought it and had settled down nicely into chapter one.



I finished it nine days later. Yes, I could have dashed through it that night, but who really wants to finish that last, final book in the series?



So what do I think? Bottom line, thumbs up or thumbs down?



(I don't like spoilers, so I promise to give away none of the plot for the three of you out there who haven't yet read the book.)



Here goes. It's a safe bet I like the series or what I am I doing buying book three, right? So I like the series. And I thought book three was about as good as one and two.



But I want to say more than I like the series or that book three is about as good as one and two. This is what I want to say: The series made me think about our world and violence and tv and human nature. I'm glad it did. I'm hoping that all the kazillion kids reading this book are also thinking about our world and violence and tv and human nature. I'm pretty sure they are.



Because I'm a school librarian, I feel compelled to add that I honestly would not be crazy about my eight-year-old reading this series. It's violent. Read it first, mom.

It's been almost a week since I finished this and I still can't decide how to define this book. I can't even bring myself to call it a good read. Easy? Yes. Decent? Maybe. But good? No. Unlike with the first two books in the series (there were a couple of slow points in Catching Fire), I found myself suffering from shiny object syndrome. I'd slog through a couple of pages and suddenly remember something I wanted to google or need to check to see if I already had another book on my shelves or go make a peanut butter sandwich.

Full of stupidity and contrived events. Not sure if I was more annoyed or disappointed. Katniss, our once strong, plucky, determined heroine spent the vast majority of this book either sitting in a closet whimpering and sniffling or being unconscious. Because of this choice by the author, she is informed later, along with the reader, of everything that happened. Talk about passive story telling. When something did happen - and rarely did it actually happen to Katniss - she followed it up with another round of guilt and self pity (sob.I'm just a pawn.sob.) I so wanted Haymitch to dump a pitcher of water on her head multiple times.

Contrived scenarios abounded throughout those almost 400 pages. District 13 is entirely on their own. No Allies. No nothing. They barely have enough people to be considered a District (why didn't they change their name like every other newly formed country on the planet does). Did a meteor hit the other side of planet earth? Completely wiping out Europe? Africa? Asia? Even the original 13 colonies had France. Whatever. Supposedly Coin in all her wisdom and none of the friends she needs wanted to save Peeta not Katniss? Huh? Peeta was never, ever the one the hoards followed. Then you have an elite group of soldiers (Think Seal Team) sent on a very specific mission and you send in an unknown, self destructive person to join them. Someone who has the severe potential of getting the whole group captured or killed. I don't care how much you hate one particular soldier, no commander risks the whole elite team like that. It was simply Collins' contrived way of bringing Peeta back to the A story. All so we could overhear the Peeta/Gale late night chat. And don't even get me started on that conversation. How are either of those two even slightly ok with being the equivalent of Katniss deciding whether she wants Lucky Charms or Fruit Loops for breakfast.

Normally I can deal with character deaths. I may not like them, but I deal. I mean this is supposed to be dystopian. They're involved in a war. People will die. It's to be expected. But because this is a story, those deaths need to be important. They need to move the plot in some way, shape or form (unless of course they're the never met them before red shirt characters). I still can't figure out what purpose Finnick's death served story wise. Other than to give Katniss yet another opportunity to beat herself up. Would it really have been a bad thing to give one character an actual happy ending? Heck once again we don't even get to “see” something happen - we're just told. Prim's death was ridiculous. What type of leader sends in the medical/humanitarian aide into what is an active firefight, especially without first making sure the area is secure? And then intentionally drop bombs on that very spot. I thought 13 was a little short on population. The only thing her death allowed for was a reason for the author to shove Gale out of the way. It wasn't like Gale took himself out of the running on his own. No, it was based on the idea that maybe, possibly, Gale might have had the idea that eventually led to 13 bombing the hell out of their own soldiers, thus causing the death of a member of Katniss's family (never mind that he didn't put Prim there). That's nothing at all like Katniss and her actions causing the other districts to rise up and try to rest control from the Capitol which in turn led to the bombing of 12 and the deaths of Peeta's entire family. (Insert Eye Roll HERE)

In case you couldn't tell, I was Team Gale, even though I knew he probably didn't have a chance. However, I wish Katniss had stuck with one of her early statements about not picking either of them and being on her own. That I could have respected. Choosing Peeta because in essence he was the only one left wasn't her making a choice at all.

The one part of the book that got to me? In the last few pages when Katniss finds Buttercup. Not really surprising - I nearly burst into tears during those sappy Sarah McLachlin voice over ASPCA commercials. The idea of Buttercup finding his way home to District 12 through the barren landscapes and past the freaky predators out there...well...just...sniff.

If you've read the first two book in the series, then this one is probably worth reading to. Just don't expect to like it.

When I started reading the book, I was worried it might turn out to be more of the same. And in hindsight, I should've known better, because I was worried about the same with Catching Fire and the author did not disappoint.

This was such a vast book for the amount of pages. It moves at a very quick pace, but it still finds time for quiet moments. There is a lot of devastation, plot twists, betrayal, horror, loss and realism.
I can't stop being amazed by the depth this author has managed to create. By the multilayered characters - both main and supporting. By the bold and gritty choices she has made for the plot of this book.

I loved it! It was one of the best bitter-sweet endings I have ever read!

There is a reason why this series is such a staple and why it sprung so many copycats.

sin tener en cuenta la poca participación de Katniss en la guerra y la casi nula acción, no me gustó el final. Katniss sufre demasiado y no se habla mucho de Peeta, lo cual me pareció que dejaba un vacío en la historia. Además faltan detalles sobre la familia de Peeta y Gale, qué fue de Effie durante todo ese tiempo, etc. Hay mucha información que faltó y el final no le pareció muy justo. Ojalá la autora escriba un cuento corto donde explique los detalles que faltan.

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

ATENÇÃO: Essa resenha fala sobre o último livro da trilogia “Jogos Vorazes”, então se você não leu os outros dois (Jogos Vorazes e Em Chamas), recomendo que não leia esta resenha, pois terá spoilers.

E aqui estamos, na reta final. A revolução chegou, e não há volta. Katniss escapou novamente dos Jogos Vorazes, mas Peeta ficou para trás, preso na Capital. O Distrito 12 deixou de existir, bombardeado pela Capital, poucas pessoas restaram, e só a Aldeia dos Vitoriosos se encontra de pé. Ela acorda no Distrito 13, antes conhecido como um o distrito destruído, e que acabou sendo que na verdade um distrito que conseguiu fugir das garras da Capital e sobrevivia à duras penas no subterrâneo.

Katniss foi resgatada para ser o Tordo, o rosto e o incentivo para os distritos finalmente se libertarem da Capital e se rebelarem junto ao 13. Entretanto, a coisa não é tão fácil quanto parece. Katniss permanece dividida entre seguir essa função, a preocupação com a vida de todos que ama e a desconfiança perante à presidente Corin, líder dos rebeldes.

Aceitando sua missão, Katniss passa a visitar os distritos e ver a destruição que a revolta causou neles. Milhares de pessoas mortas, doentes, feridas, e uma devastação desoladora. Com sua impulsividade ela consegue o que ninguém consegue num estúdio, a raiva e a força para incentivar a população. Mas muito tem a acontecer ainda. Katniss percebe que mais uma vez está presa numa situação em que nem tudo está sendo contado para ela, e esse sentimento de que está sendo novamente usada a faz repensar muita coisa.

O livro gira em torno de muitos assuntos dolorosos e reflexivos para todos nós. Até que ponto uma guerra, um ataque, é aceitável? Até que ponto pode se fazer uso da força, e o pior de tudo, o que há realmente por trás das causas que lutamos?

O término do livro foi doloroso por muitos mais motivos do que só o término de uma história, e apesar de muitas vezes ter ficado com raiva da passividade e da impulsividade de Katniss, no fundo temos que ver que é somente uma menina, que teve que amadurecer e passar por coisas inimagináveis até a idade apresentada no final, e que sofre muito mais abalos mentais que possamos um dia sofrer.

Deixo aqui um convite não só para a leitura da série, mas também para refletir nas atitudes e no que o livro realmente debate pois, ao meu ver, esse livro só se encaixa num público juvenil para que se possa ter a esperança de um povo com mais humanidade.

“Bem no fundo da campina, embaixo do salgueiro
Um leito de grama, um macio e verde travesseiro
Deite a cabeça e feche esses olhos cansados
E quando eles se abrirem, o sol já estará alto nos prados.

Aqui é seguro, aqui é um abrigo
Aqui as margaridas lhe protegem de todo perigo
Aqui seus sonhos são doces e amanhã serão lei
Aqui é o local onde eu sempre lhe amarei.”

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/03/esperanca.html

An amazing end to an amazing trilogy(real or not real?). I read this the day I got it and couldn't put it down. So much loss and hurt in this story though. I loved the series when I read it earlier this summer and was hooked into the world of Katniss and Panem. It had to be one of the most powerful books i've ever read as well

The people in the book are real and you feel every emotion that Collins puts into each character. My favorite character by far was Finnick, i think he had the greatest character development and i really like him at the end of the series. I literally got really teary eyed the moment he died with all he went through and when he finally got Annie. Definitely one of the saddest moments for me in the book

I think the part i like most is that nobody is really happy in the end, its not a happily ever after. If your life went through that, you would be scared for life as well. She was still terrifed about the world she lived in and wasn't sure about bringing children into it. That's war though, and tragedies happen.
Overall i kinda knew katniss would end up with peeta and what Collins writes on those last few pages really tell you why she chose him. And peeta got his family. Although i liked Gales character more and i wish their was more closure on him.

I loved the twist at the end to of when she killed coin. i knew she was gonna do that! But it was a great twist into the story and i liked that, i hated coin and knew something was up with her.

Overall, i loved this book and the characters in it. The powerful message and tragedies in it. It was a crazy rollarcoaster ride and it was a great run. Collins did a fantastic job on this and i hope they do a good job with the movie as well.


I hope this review was helpful and i hope some things people will agree with me on. I was a bit scattered writing this but still.

OK, I know people have been saying they were disappointed by this book (no spoilers) and how it ended. IDK. I didn't think it was much more of a downer than the first two. I guess I liked it? UGH I think I need to re-read this whole trilogy at a slower pace and reflect on it further.

–

re-read, still extremely into this, I love the worldbuilding and the ethical thorniness and all!

Goodreads Says: 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 plains - 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.

WOW! I dove right into this book immediately after finishing Catching Fire. I just had to... I tried going to bed in the wee hours of the morning but I kept going back to reading and then sleep just lost the bloody war altogether. This was CRAZY. Once again this read was not predictable. It definitely had some what the heck moments that didn't end until the very last word.

I was emotionally spent by the end of the book. I was sad. I really couldn't find happiness at the end because Katniss was so broken. Yet I still give it 5 stars. The originality is ridiculous! The reality of it all and how it all played out is ridiculous! The fact that Suzanne Collins didn't give us rainbows and roses was ridiculous! (Obviously I mean ridiculous in a very good light.)I have to give her so many accolades for being able to stand out and for not conforming to what readers would want.

I definitely want to re-read this one and the one before this because I just need to. ;-) I say read this book and all the ones prior. It's so worth reading.

I didn't care about the outcome of this book until the last 20 pages.

I felt obligated to finish this book because I love Katniss as a character. I wanted to know what happened between her and Peeta. I wanted to know how Gale took the change. But other than that, this book was boring and hard to get through.

Unlike the first two books of the series, there is very little action. Katniss herself spends much of the book in an apathetic stupor and it's hard not to join her. The war between the Districts and the Capital could have been a very interesting backdrop to the main story of how Katniss recovers from the Quarter Quell, but it flounders and flops. Instead of energizing the readers, Katniss seems too tired and bored to do much of anything.

When she is acting as the Mockingjay, think Joan of Arc without the nasty burning at the stake, she finally regains her strength of will and mind. She becomes the character I fell in love with in the Arena. But that doesn't happen until well into the book, and even then the scenes are short-lived and staged.

But, I continued reading because if there is one thing Collins can do well (and there are many) it's the cliffhanger. Just as I was about to give up on the book completely, she would throw some twist in the last sentence. Granted, the twists were not really that surprising, but they were enough to keep me reading.

And then I hit the last chapters.

Finally, Collins and Katniss hit their strides. Katniss-the-badass returns at full speed and Collins' mastery of story makes it impossible to put down. Too bad the first 370 pages were so meh.

So, I give Mockingjay only three stars because it must be hard to maintain the sheer amazingness of the first two books, and Mockingjay fails. But, it's still a good ending to the series.

89/100
Mockingjay is the best of the original trilogy, and while I haven't read either prequel in full yet, I highly doubt they will top it. This book is great. I love the way it focuses on the lore of the series, as well as the civil war that breaks out. This book is the best because it does what Catching Fire did great (read my review of that book and much of it applies here,) but adds an extremely engaging war with thematic purpose, Katniss' escalating involvement in the conflict, and so much drama that really feels meaningful and engaging. You have to read it to get why the drama is so good, at least to me, but it just is. I really admire how the series can rehash the “katniss gets mad at gale or peeta and then realizes she's being kinda a douche” thing several times and always have it be good. I keep going back to this, but the war is just so well played out. It's another thing you just need to see. The pacing is flawless throughout basically the whole thing, but the main thing I want to talk about is the ending. So, Prim's dead. Huh. I hated this decision at first. The entire series happened because Katniss wanted to keep her sister alive. So why, in the climax of the story, is she killed in a civilian bombing by her own side of the war? Well, it's to show that President Coin is really not that much better than Snow, their enemy. When Katniss finds this out, this gives her the initiative she needs to assassinate Coin, which is an extremely powerful move. In my opinion, this decision is to show that she doesn't conform to a particular side, person or country. Katniss does anything to protect what she loves, even when the Rebels helped her in a lot of ways. Because again, it's not about sides; the decision was about Coin in particular.
I want to say that I have an issue with the ending. The vote on having one last hunger games to punish those who subjected their citizens to the hunger games. This was stupid. The choice is obviously not to waste money and human suffering on petty revenge. The Rebels aren't necessary better than this, but Katniss absolutely is, and for some unexplained reason she votes yes. She wants to round up a bunch of Capital officials and have them as tributes in another hunger games. Don't ask me why. I don't want to give the impression that the ending is bad; it's generally great, and every second of it was very enjoyable except for the blemish I just mentioned. I won't go on for longer, but I'll close this by saying that the series is really great and deserved the attention it got, although I feel like it was popular for all the wrong reasons. While most know it for its love triangle, fights to the death and its popularization of the teen dystopian genre, I think its strengths lie in its bursting personality, mastering of plot structure and character, its accurate depiction of the human condition during times of poverty, and later war.

I guess there are no real spoilers in this but it certainly could give one expectations so I'm marking this as having spoilers.

I was hesitant after the second book, which I enjoyed but which seemed to lean a bit heavily on the conventions of the first. Also, the second and the third books are far more dark and violent than the first. As I approached the ending of Mockingjay, I became more and more curious (not just as an invested reader, but as a creative person, someone who is interested in telling stories ... wow, that all sounds silly) about how Collins was going to end the trilogy. With everything that had happened, it would take a lot to justify the whole thing.

She very, very much did it.

I'm very fascinated by this whole series being aimed at young adults, but I think there was a lot that happened in this series, a lot was said, and it ended exactly how it had to. With everything that had happened, it couldn't be a happy ending, but it would be far too easy to end the series with a simple, tragic ending. I thought she might go for a meaningless end, by simply killing Katniss and maybe everybody else. Just because of all of the preceding events. It might have been interesting, and I was preparing myself for something like that. I was not prepared for what actually happened and I'm glad, because it was perfect and not obvious.

The way Collins wrapped up this series validated everything that happened in it without trivializing any of it, and it proved that she knew what she was doing. I love Harry Potter (and yes, I know they're very different things), and I liked how Rowling ended that series but she left a lot of things that didn't set quite right. This ending seemed to fit together perfectly, partially because it had little to tie up. There was some deus ex machina, some stuff that might have seemed contrived, if there weren't precedent for it throughout the series. And all of this has elevated this series to one of my favorites of all time. We'll see if I'm just coming down from the experience of the series, or if this opinion endures. But I loved it.

I originally rated this 3 stars when I created my Goodreads account. I had finished Mockingjay many years before that, so I rated the whole series the same. I knew I liked the final book less than the others, but oh boy did I forget how much less. I know I almost DNF'd it the first time around, and I almost DNF'd the audiobook this time. I almost never DNF audiobooks, and usually it's only because the narrator is annoying me.

I can't really put my finger on precisely why, but this book irritates me. It was such a lackluster end to a pretty good series. I felt for Katniss during the first two books, but I got really sick of the self-imposed martyrdom in this one. The fade-to-black should not be used for the conclusion of an entire series worth of physical and emotional conflict.