Book Review #505 - Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

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 plans -- 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.

My Rating: 4/5

This was my second time reading this book. I read it for the first time in 2010 before I started this blog.

This book is completely different to the first two books in this trilogy. Whilst the first two elude to the possibility of an uprising, Mockingjay provides a large scale war against the Capitol. 

The first portion of the book was slow paced and I found myself impatient at times because of this. All the action was contained in the last quarter of the book. 

I still am unsure whether I like Peeta or not. To me, he comes across as weak. I think this is because anyone would look weak in comparison to Katniss. 

There were a few parts like the pods in the Capitol that I had a hard time visualizing and so I hope that the upcoming film adaptations can clarify small things like that for me. 

I felt like Gale didn't get enough closure and his future wasn't definitive enough for me. 

The key deaths in this book especially Katniss' personal one were no easier to read about the second time around. 

The epilogue set 20 odd years after the initial ending provided a great insight into Katniss' future but I would have liked to have known more about their post-war life especially the political aspect.