Mockingjay

 

Level: Older Teen

Genre: Fantasy > Dystopian

Obtained: Borrowed from grandmother

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

About the Book:

It's the conclusion to The Hunger Games trilogy. The districts are rising against the Capital more and more every day. After the rescue from the Quarter Quell, the victors are now working with District 13 to overcome the Capital.

Rating: 8/10

I found this book to be both fantastic and a bit boring at the same time. I was especially looking forward to the uprising against the Capital, and I figured I would be hooked from page one. Sadly, this was not the case. The first half of Mockingjay really seemed to drag for me, and I felt I was basically reading the same thing over and over. Now, the first half wasn't all boredom. It definitely has some gems sparkling in the mundane muck.

The characters in this book become more complex as well. We see more of Gale and Katniss' friendship go from rocky to firm. It's nice to see a friendship that still has its disagreements yet hold together. Collins also does a fabulous job at using her characters to get an emotional response out of us. Finnick's tale as he recollects the past probably had the biggest impact on me. It was heart moving and struck something deep inside. Then, there is Finnick's love story. You can see his torture play out when he knows President Snow has his love. You can see that he is barely holding on. Then, of course, there is Peeta. I don't want to give anything away, but when you see what the Capital has been doing to him, you cannot help but despise Snow and feel such distress for Peeta's situation.

Now, I may not have been a fan of the first half of Mockingjay, but the later half had me hooked. Once we had a change of scenery, the adventures kept coming. Still my favourite bits were the emotions the characters brought forth and the climax. Like the prior novels, Collins writes scenes that will stick with you for what seems an eternity. There is one scene that involves silver parachutes (those who have read this will know what I talking about). It is this scene that actually caused me to put down the book and recollect myself from the shock. It was that intense. I don't know a single person who didn't feel some sort of emotion during this scene. There has only been one other time I felt this large of a shock when reading, and that was when Snape died in the Harry Potter series. 

Anyway, to sum up the review, I found the first half to be mediocre at best, but the impact of the last half certainly made up for it. Add in all the character dynamics, and you have a pretty fantastic book.

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