Grace
Written on Aug 12, 2011
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
- ISBN10 0545101425
- ISBN13 9780545101424
- Publish Date 1 September 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Scholastic US
- Format Audiobook (CD)
- Pages 10
- Language English
Reviews
nannah
Written on Aug 5, 2011
For me, Mockingjay was about the loss of a hero. And I'm not talking about Panem's hero or the Capital's hero or anything like that within Mockingjay's pages. I'm talking about me. The reader's hero died in this book. Katniss's character seemed really weak and fickle. I can't even count how many times the scenes changed because someone sedated her. I'm not saying she shouldn't have been traumatized by everything thrown her way, but we're robbed of the strong, willful Katniss we've grown to love over the course of the first two books. She became a passive hero, one that just follows the path the book sets out for her, not carving her own.
She even seemed to become the very idea of a tribute that she had always rejected before (which is something that really endeared her to me as a heroine). In the last book, one of the most horrible parts was when she shot that woman and killed her without hesitation. This is what she did NOT want to do (she mentioned this several times in her thoughts). She didn't want to turn into the monster that the Capital wanted her to become. But she did anyway.
Many sequences in the book seemed very rushed, and even without purpose. I think the biggest flaw of this book was the lack of emotion. Katniss mourned the death of Rue more than her sister Prim. What? How can that even BE? And the very death of Prim seemed, to me, the most wrong thing Collins could do to to her trilogy. The whole commencement of Katniss's adventures began with her stepping forward to save Prim. In that way, the evils of the book one, and the heroes lost. Everything was for naught.
And Finnick. He grows on us as one of the most lovable characters, and yet he's killed off with maybe just a few sentences and Katniss moves on. So many characters were killed off without real purpose. There was no emotional aftershock or mourning. It just happened.
AND then the romance. The love triangle between Katniss and Peeta and Gale seemed to be brushed aside. I hated, absolutely HATED that Katniss chose Peeta by default. Because Gale moved away and got that "job." It's one more example of how Katniss was a passive character in this book. She let everyone else make her decisions for her, and it did not endear her to me at all. I started to dislike her, and that's HORRIBLE for a book's heroine, at least in this kind of book! The whole reasoning with the dandelion was lovely, but it wasn't enough. When did Katniss and Peeta's relationship rekindle? How did they meld back together? Why were we robbed of these sweet scenes? I hated that everything was thrown at us at the end in a couple of paragraphs. I love Peeta, and I loved the tender and uneasy and at times awkward relationship he and Katniss had, but we were completely robbed of any of this at the end. They just came together because there really wasn't anything more for them to do.
In the end, Katniss was weaker than when she began. Yes, I know, war does this to people. But as a heroine for a book with so many broken characters, I just wanted SOMEONE to rise up at the end of the book higher than when they started. I wanted a CONCLUSION of their characters. A well-rounded arc to end them. Not just a fizzled end.
So I love and hate this book. I love it because it had so much tension and Katniss got her Peeta in the end and for the Finnick characterization and for the sometimes beautiful scenes. But I hate it for its countless, horrendous flaws.
thebookdisciple
Written on May 28, 2011
Stephanie
Written on May 20, 2011
In the breathtaking final chapter of the Hunger Games trilogy, we see Katniss in a new role. In the beginning she's broken. Her fear for Peeta makes her life stand still…until she sees him in a Capitol propos. This slaps her out of her self-imposed prison as nothing else would. Katniss agrees to become the Mockingjay for President Coin and the districts. IN this rebellion the Rebels are so much closer to winning and with Katniss, the Mockingjay their moral remains high.
Peeta has suffered much under President Snow's watch. The torture was awful enough but the Capitol invaded him in such a unique way that he may never be the boy from district 12 again. Upon their reunion, Peeta tries to strangle Katniss. Katniss wanted Snow dead before but now it's her life mission.
War in Panem rages and there is so much loss. Katniss has unwittingly sparked a revolution and now she is helping to lead it. She trains as a solider and barely makes the cut to serve in the taking of the Capitol. She is placed with Gale and Boggs from District 13 in a group of elite sharp shooter and act as stars for 13 and the Rebels.
Then one day Peeta is dropped off in their camp. The boy with the bread still is gone from his body which can only mean one thing: Katniss' use to Coin and 13 has reached it's end. Who does Katniss trust now? Can her assassination plot still meet it's glorious end? What will happen to the Mockingjay and her group of soldiers?
My Thoughts:
Where to begin? I think wow sums it up pretty well. So do the words amazing, stunning, chilling, and heart breaking. So many times through this book the characters I have come to know and love gained, lsot and changed. My heart rose and fell and shattered. Collins has done such a great job with her characters that in the end they are real people to me. I feel like I can go to Panem and Katniss and Peeta will be waiting there to greet me….okay maybe not so much Katniss but definitely Peeta.
I'm not going to lie. I never chose Team Peeta or Team Gale. I really wanted Katniss to end up with Gale but I know that Peeta was the only one that could ever really be with Katniss. Who else could understand her the way she needs to be understood? There were a lot of plot twists that I didn't expect A lot of people lost that saddened me. Collins had to do it though. How else would we understand the costs? As readers how else could we understand Katniss' decisions? While the ending caught me off guard in the end I truly believe it to be the right one.
I would suggest this book to people who are looking for a heavier young adult book. It is imperative that you read the first two or you'll be lost. Also if you're looking for a traditional happily ever after, skip this book. I'd classify the ending as a happily ever after with strings attached. All in all it was a great trilogy and a story I'm glad I didn't miss.
sleepseeker
Written on Apr 26, 2011
This had action, drama, and was very emotional. It made me mad, sad, in shock and the whole book made me feel for the characters and what they all went through. It's been a long time since I felt like that for a character in a book and after the it ended, I was just in shock about how things turned out. And that is why I think these are a great read because it was able to get me to feel things about the characters and react to the roller coaster that there lives went through.
dokie80
Written on Feb 1, 2011
inlibrisveritas
Written on Jan 28, 2011
I think it goes without saying that this is just as quick paced as the other two. Which with the last book in a series you kind of don't want entirely because it means that it comes to a close quicker but to me it didn't subtract from the story at all. This one gives you more breathers throughout it but they don't last for terribly long before you are launched right back into the action. This once again uses the power of surprise to it's full extent and like the first I had to stop reading and ask myself if that really just happened. The ending itself seemed to fit perfectly, at least to me, but the events leading up to it were somewhat surprising. The emotion factor works full force in this one as well and by the end you'll feel as relieved, sad, and drained as Katniss does.I think that it's a good thing that these stories are as blunt as they are, it's rare that a book truly makes you feel some of the terror and adrenaline that is happening. Which is exactly what I experienced. As for how the Gale vs. Peeta thing turned out, I have to say I approve. It just made more sense in the end to have the two that ended up together be the way they are.
I managed to read each book in a matter of two days each and I was sad to see them over with. The definitely have a re-read value in them and it can be recommended to most readers. But like I said before it's not for the light of heart at all, you probably shouldn't let your young kids read them either. I'd wait till about 15 or 16 for these particular books just based on the violence and storyline.
ibeforem
Written on Oct 29, 2010
I’m not even going to try to discuss this without spoilers. So consider yourself warned!
First of all, I really liked the book. I found it to be a mostly satisfying conclusion to the series. In some ways, I found it more engrossing than Catching Fire, which was mostly a rehash of Hunger Games. But what I really want to discuss is Katniss.
A lot of people read this book and immediately hated what Collins did with Katniss. They felt like she changed Katniss into someone weak who just waited for things to happen to her instead of taking charge.
I have to say that I disagree! I guess I’ve always felt that Katniss was an emotionally immature character, and was often having her strings pulled by other people — she just didn’t realize it. When the bodies started piling up, she just wasn’t emotionally mature enough to handle it. I think the only decision she made in the whole series that was truly hers was the decision to step up and take Prim’s place. Other than that, she was always someone’s pawn in the game. An extremely effective pawn, but a pawn, nonetheless. I think that most of the time, her independence was an illusion.
That’s not to say the book was perfect. My main complaint was the pacing. I think we spent way too much time in 13 and not nearly enough time in the Capitol. The ending was horribly rushed, with Katniss’s trial and banishment just glossed over. I would have loved a better, slower exposure of 13 being just like the Capitol. Especially the part about Coin wanting another Hunger Games. That’s taken care of in about 4 pages, and it needed to have more impact than that.
Overall, I wasn’t at all surprised by how Katniss ended up at the end. After 3 books of people manipulating her, a mental break was not completely unexpected.
jeannamichel
Written on Oct 8, 2010
This was the book that I had been waiting for, ever since I read the first in the series, The Hunger Games. I knew the book was going to be amazing. Suzanne Collins never disappoints, does she?
Suzanne Collins promised to have her love triangle broken and have only one guy remaining by the end of the book. Love triangles in books have been getting a little cliché over the years, but Collins’ characters brought a fresh outlook on the phrase love triangle. Peeta and Gale were complete opposites and barely even saw each other throughout the span of the book. The developments of the two characters were certainly something to witness. Gale was always the hunter, the friend, and the rebel, whereas Peeta was the lover and the shy boy from the Games. It was refreshing to watch their roles reverse: Gale being the lover and Peeta becoming the fighter, and then suddenly have the two characters switch back into their original roles by the end of the book. Mockingjay kept me on my toes, always wondering what was going to happen next.
With the Mockingjay, Collins led me through her world again and the only thing I was disappointed about was the ending. Suzanne Collins tried to give her readers the say on what happens next and the inference she expected us to follow was a little much. I warn readers of Mockingjay, because Collins did leave a lot of questions. Questions that, I know, I wanted answered. Other than the ending- that is a pretty big thing, because The Hunger Games series ended with this book- the book was fantastic.
A lot of people are under the notion that young adult novels, Mockingjay falls into that category, have no depth to them. They think that these books are devoid of a good storyline. This book and the previous books in the series prove their beliefs wrong. Suzanne Collins uses rhetorical strategies left and right that makes readers continue reading her books year after year.
This book is certainly worth reading.
Jo
Written on Oct 1, 2010
After being reminded how amazing this series is when I finished Catching Fire, I immediately picked up Mockingjay and got stuck in, and all I can say is wow!
I really don't know where to start. I cannot believe how much happened in this novel. I would be reading at later points in the book, and realise what Katniss was talking about happened earlier in Mockingjay, not in another book. Seriously, so much goes on, and it spans quite a period of time, I'm amazed it all fit in one book. And as you would hope for the finale in such a spectacular series, there is action and suspense like you wouldn't believe! And there is no way I can really talk about any of it without spoiling the story, because it starts right from the beginning.
Katniss' journey in Mockingjay is probably a lot more chaotic than in previous ones. The range of emotions she goes through, the thing she has to witness and experience, the choices she has to make, the goals she achieves - it's just phenomenal, especially when you think that she is just 17 and has been forced into this life. She might just be one of my favourite protagonists, I love her!
As the book is the finale, things are resolved. We find out if Katniss chooses Peeta or Gale. We find out whether the Capitol is beaten or not. Did Mockingjay end how I wanted it to? I'm not sure, simply because I couldn't think of an ending I wanted. This series is just so complicated and so real, I couldn't picture an ending. But my god, what an end to the series! I really don't know what to say. I absolutely loved it, and I think Suzanne Collins is just a genius. This has got to be one of the best series ever written.
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog