In short
Mockingjay is the third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy. It depicts the further rebellion against the Capitol. After the initial shock of being taken from the arena to district 13, Katniss is trying to make sense of everything. With Peeta in the hands of President Snow and knowing that they expect her to become The Mockingjay, and with that the symbol of the rebellion, she is at a complete loss how to lead her life.
As stubbornly as she ever was, she does her own thing, making friends and enemies along the way. As the Mockingjay she sees the battle from a whole other view, and tries to find some sanity in all the madness. Spiraling towards a heartbreaking ending, the Mockingjay won't ever lose her voice, or her aim for that matter.
My two cents
It didn't deliver what I expected. I loved the initial Hunger Games novel, wasn't too keen on Catching Fire and hoped that Mockingjay would be the best of the three. Sad to say that in my own humble opinion I thought this to be the worst. It's too much Katniss being insecure instead of being the fire she is. On few occasions you see her rise to the objective and then I'm mentally cheering her on and being proud of the little heroin, but most of the time I want to kick her butt and tell her that she isn't responsible for every living being on the face of the planet.
The ending, or what I strongly believe should have been the ending, is heartbreaking. The one person she sought to protect all along, as killed in action. Her whole world crumbles to bits and pieces and as she herself heals the wounds inflicted in battle, she tries to accept what happened. She seeks answers and finds them in unexpected places. Her last shot as the Mockingjay is therefore the one to remember.
Of course there has to be an epilogue. And it wasn't necessary in my yet again humble opinion. It reminded me a little of the ending of the Harry Potter & the Deadly Hallows. Too much an "all well, ends well" atmosphere for me. For me the book could have ended with the final arrow shot she took as the face of the rebellion.
First published in 2010.
Thickness: 390 pages
