Review: Mockingjay

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian fiction
Pub Date: August 2010, Scholastic, Inc.
Hardcover,  pages
Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Synopsis

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year. -- Scholastic

My Thoughts

It is so hard to believe that we have finally come to the conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy. I can remember putting off my reading of the first book simply because I didn't know if it could live up to the hype for me. Now I am wishing that I could just keep turning the pages--though I do intend to (so to speak) down the road. I really think that this series would benefit from a straight read-through when I have the time to devote to it (and a smaller TBR pile, haha).

I have to be honest, though, and say that while I enjoyed it, Mockingjay was not my favorite book of the three--that honor still goes to The Hunger Games. As usual, I found myself completely swept up in Collins' story, alternately applauding and lamenting at the unfolding events. Overall, I really thought the story played out like it should have--though for a brief moment I really felt like she should end up on either Team Gale or Team Peeta. For most of the series I really have been a staunch supporter of Team Gale and the events of Mockingjay eventually led me to the other side. What Peeta was forced to do and experience thanks to the Capitol was unbelievably horrendous, and I was impressed with how Collins depicted his story and the other characters' reactions to what he had become. I think the biggest fault I can find with this book is the overall pacing. The third part really snowballed and ended the book much too quickly in my opinion, while there were some earlier parts that dragged a bit more than necessary.

My feelings by the time I closed the book? Satisfied, yet a tinge of sadness that the story was over. The epilogue was a nice touch, even though I yearned for a bit more from it. But perhaps that was the point in the end. I really do look forward to taking the time to read this series from start to finish sometime down the road--I think I'll appreciate this powerful story even more.

My Rating: I actually changed this to 5 stars since re-reading the series.


Other reviews of Mockingjay:

Presenting Lenore ~ Bart's Bookshelf ~ The Discriminating Fangirl
The Story Siren ~ Dear Author ~ Wordbird
Confessions of a Bibliovore ~ Jen Robinson's Book Page
Monniblog ~ Angieville ~ The Zen Leaf ~ Stiletto Storytime
Books and Movies ~ Reviewer X ~ Devourer of Books
Bookalicious ~ MariReads ~ Bookshelves of Doom ~ Bloody Bookaholic
One Librarian's Book Reviews ~ It's All About Books
Allison's Book Marks ~ Good Clean Reads ~ The Reading Zone
Booking Mama ~ Literary Escapism ~ i swim for oceans 

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