Katniss Everdeen awakes to District 13 (the rebels) and to the destruction of her home District 12.  She doesn’t know what awaits her after her second adventure in the games.  The dystopian world of Panem takes a complicated turn for the worst and Katniss has to figure out who she can trust, what is expected from her, and who she loves –  Gale or Peeta.

I finally finished Mockingjay after reading off and on for two weeks.  I can’t say I loved this book like The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. For me, it wasn’t the page turners I’d read before.   I found Mockingjay slow and dispersed.  The story of Katniss Everdeen becomes more and more tragic.  I guess you could say she is put to the full test.  Suzanne Collins tries to introduce a strictly psychological story but where she goes wrong is with 200 pages of moaning teenage angst.  I still love the idea of this trilogy because the themes are so universal and have been dealt with differently in other novels.  The thing that is also missing is more in-depth descriptions of the different districts.  I thought Collins would have used the tour of the districts, that Katniss and Peeta had to do as the winners of the games in Catching Fire, as a way to describe and explain them more in detail.  I did enjoy the love story though which added a little spice to this quite violent, dark dystopian world.  You just want things to work out for Katniss and Gale or Peeta.  sorry no spoilers.

All in all, as a story, it’s a good one.  You must read it to judge it.  The Hunger Games is getting a lot of press because of the film and people are judging it on that alone.  Yes,  it’s violent but I don’t think it’s anymore violent than what adolescents usually watch these days in movies, on tv, or in video games.  Unfortunately, this trilogy is an example of why I don’t usually enjoy reading trilogies.  In my opinion, they fizzle out and are usually one book too long.  This being said Suzanne Collins does know how to keep up the suspense and make incredible turns in the story as well as in the growth of the characters.  I give Mockingjay three and a half stars, but you have to read it to find out how it ends.  It’s a trilogy!  Or,  you could skip right to page 265 and start reading there. 

I was watching You Tube and there was an interesting Hunger Games tag going around. So I’m asking you which do you prefer? Comment below.  I’d love to know what you think.

Snow or Coin  – Neither they’re scary!

Effie or Cinna – I like Cinna’s simple, but creative style.

Slugging it out in the Districts or living life in the Capitol – I would prefer slugging it out in the districts.

Lamb stew from the Capitol or bread from district 11 – I like lamb stew.

Gale or Peeta – I like Peeta, although that didn’t begin until Catching Fire.

Katniss’ archery skills or Cato’s knife fighting abilities – I would love to have Katniss’ archery skills. So cool!

Become an Avox or get stung by a tracker jacker –  I’d rather be stung by a tracker jacker.  I like to talk a lot.

Who’s cuter Prim or Rue? – Rue is very cute, especially in the movie.

Peeta’s gift of camouflage or Rue’s gift of climbing – Peeta’s gift of camouflage would be useful since I like to paint.

Run for the Cornucopia or Run for the hills – I’d probably run for the hills for obvious reasons.