Mockingjay (The Hunger Games)

The book starts off with Katniss recovering in District 13 from the events in book two. And then nothing else really happens, at least with her involvement. She fired a couple of arrows, shot some propaganda videos, sang a few songs, made a speech and then was part of a team that went through some traps of which she didn't do much. That was it pretty much. Oh there was lots of angst ridden deliberations about Peeta and Gale and her being all messed up. I get she was suffering from PTSD and it's probably fairly realistic but she wasn't the only one and the others didn't wallow in self pity the entire time. It might help if she was a more sympathetic character but she's not. I liked Katniss is book one and sympathised with her in book two but in this one I grew to actively disliking her, and this is not good in a book told in the first person with only her POV. The way she treated Peeta after what happened to him was truly atrocious and she threw Gale under the bus whenever she wanted. It makes no sense as to why either of them would want to be with her. This could have been a good book, the premise was good and there were some good new characters introduced. Instead we got a lot of whining and all the good action stuff happened off screen. This series started with a bang, the first book is very good, but it ended on a whimper. 2.5 stars rounded down.

Mockingjay for me was like reading something from another author. The first 2 were very clearly written for young adults and were very easy flowing whilst book 3 feels more serious and more detailed. Maybe this was intentional as Collins knew her initial fans were growing up. We are introduced to district 13 as the war on the capital kicks off. This one is slow to get in to and doesnt really pick up speed until part 3. I loved the whole Peeta story with his memories being tampered with and in all fairness, the story wraps up pretty well but book 3 is my least favourite. I would still recommend this trilogy. Lastly, I was team Gale all the way.

For those who might come to this series after having seen the movies, this book will be a bit of a surprise, as it presents a far more realistic depiction of events. As a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of trauma, I never expect a fiction piece to truly capture PTSD accurately. That is why we call it fiction. But the emotions Katniss experiences are real, raw, complicated,and expressed beautifully. Recovery from the horrors she saw, the physical traumas she experienced , and the childhood events she survived, take years, and are powerfully conveyed.

I’ve read this series four times. It’s funny how you notice new things each time. The author has such a command of language. This level of excellence is unfortunately abandoned by the writers if “grown up” books. It is really possible to write a gripping, entertaining story without using terrible language and graphic sexual content. I would love for her to expand the series. Maybe back stories on Haymitch or even Cinna or Finnick. This is definitely a must read for anyone with consciousness.

You know a book is good when it crawls inside your head and snuggles there. When you are thinking through it as you read it, and thinking about it long after you’ve read the last word on the last page. I had little to no expectations when I first started reading the Hunger Games Trilogy. If a book is trending and seems interesting, I will add it to my “to read” list. This is how I first started reading Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. After finishing Mockingjay, I was blown away. All I could think was, how many of the YA readers will understand the nuances of Collins’ message? She hooked you in with the “will she or won’t she” scenario. “Will she or won’t she” pick Peeta or Gale? “Will she or won’t she” survive a game that does not allow for love to shine through? Those questions get you through the first book, and possibly half way through the second book, but those same questions are a moot point with Mockingjay. Mockingjay stripped you of your hopeless romantic naiveté. There is no room for romance when the world is collapsing around you. There is barely room to breathe. There are no good guys or bad guys, only survivors. Mockingjay asks difficult moral questions: can man ever hold seats of power without corruption? Can war ever actually solve a dispute? At what price is man willing to pay for absolute power? I won’t even go into Collins’ varied symbolisms. Part of the pleasure of reading is finding them yourselves and asking yourself what the author is telling you, the reader. It becomes a communication between the author and the reader. It makes the novel Mockingjay even more important because it is written for younger readers, our future, those that will decide the world events of tomorrow. Collins does all this without a lecture, without loosing her characters or her plot, she has crafted an incredibly well written story that I would gladly recommend to anyone who asks. After I finished reading Mockingjay I had the same feeling as I had when I finished reading The Lord of the Flies so many years ago. Yes, I am comparing Mockingjay to a classic. There is no way around it. Mockingjay, like Lord of the Flies, asks you deep moralistic questions through the point of view of young characters. This is simply another great novel that makes you go hmmm. My favorite quotes from Mockingjay: “Frankly, our ancestors don’t seem much to brag about. I mean, look at the state they left us in, with the wars and the broken planet. Clearly, they didn’t care about what would happen to the people who came after them.” “It’s a saying from thousands of years ago, written in a language called Latin about a place called Rome,” he explains. “Panem et Circuses translates into ‘Bread and Circuses’. The writer was saying in return for full bellies and entertainment, his people had given u...