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.
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2010
Rating: 2/5
Mockingjay is surely one of the most talked about books of the year. It was by far the most anticipated young adult title of 2010. Which is why I am not going to go into an in depth review. There are already far too many posts about this book out there.
I do want to say that I was eagerly awaiting this book. I loved both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I thought they were fun, action-packed reads with interesting characters and a storyline that kept me glued to the pages. Unfortunately Mockingjay did not live up to my expectations.
This book felt long. While the other two were quick reads, this one seemed to drag. The majority of the book dealt with Katniss whinging and being unconscious. Sure she had been through a lot, but one of the reasons I liked the character of Katniss was that she was ballsy and never let anything beat her down. In this book, her character changed completely into a broken shell of a person. Something, I don't feel, she overcame.
In the end, I really didn't like Katniss. She treated both Peta and Gabe horribly and only made her choice of who to be with due to circumstance, not because of who she loved the most. It was like all that relationship build up was for nothing.
I hated the end of this story. It was a cop out. I really can't see what Collins was trying to achieve. Instead of the story we started with, about this strong girl who stood up for all that was right, overcoming adversity... we ended up with a "life will beat everyone down in the end" kind of feeling. It was depressing. There was so much talk of suicide in this book. Not that I am against YA books dealing with important issues, but there was SO MUCH talk of suicide in this book. Necessarily? I don't think so.
In my eyes, this book failed to carry on the story in a way which was true to the characters. This for me, was a major disappointment. I still think the first two books in this series are awesome and well worth the read. This one.. not so much. Maybe the pressure of having to end The Hunger Games trilogy in a big and memorable way was just too much for Collins.
This book felt long. While the other two were quick reads, this one seemed to drag. The majority of the book dealt with Katniss whinging and being unconscious. Sure she had been through a lot, but one of the reasons I liked the character of Katniss was that she was ballsy and never let anything beat her down. In this book, her character changed completely into a broken shell of a person. Something, I don't feel, she overcame.
In the end, I really didn't like Katniss. She treated both Peta and Gabe horribly and only made her choice of who to be with due to circumstance, not because of who she loved the most. It was like all that relationship build up was for nothing.
I hated the end of this story. It was a cop out. I really can't see what Collins was trying to achieve. Instead of the story we started with, about this strong girl who stood up for all that was right, overcoming adversity... we ended up with a "life will beat everyone down in the end" kind of feeling. It was depressing. There was so much talk of suicide in this book. Not that I am against YA books dealing with important issues, but there was SO MUCH talk of suicide in this book. Necessarily? I don't think so.
In my eyes, this book failed to carry on the story in a way which was true to the characters. This for me, was a major disappointment. I still think the first two books in this series are awesome and well worth the read. This one.. not so much. Maybe the pressure of having to end The Hunger Games trilogy in a big and memorable way was just too much for Collins.
