Series: Hunger Games #3
Cover:
Genre: YA Dystopian
This is the book for you if you like:
- The first two books in the series
- Well written action
Summary: (from author’s website)
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
Thoughts on covers:
As with the first two books, I’m in love with the German cover. They are so gripping!
Title:
I think Mockingjay is the only fitting title for this book, not only referencing the previous books but also Katniss’ role in this story. The German title, Burning anger, seems a bit misplaced to me.
Characters:
Katniss, who was so great in the first book, is so, so annoying. The first couple of chapters I just wanted to scream at her. I also feel like she’s written inconsistently. Most of the time, she’s just so self-centred; she doesn’t care about other people, not really. And then there are moments like this:
[Gale] strokes my face as the pain ebbs. “You’ve got to stop running straight into trouble.”
“I know. But someone blew up a mountain,” I answer.
That is the Katniss I want to see! But most of the time she’s whining about how everybody is using her, while simultaneously whining that she doesn’t get to actually fight. The whole book people keep telling her that she has this air about her that makes people follow her lead, but I, as a reader, don’t feel it. I wanted her to take control, as she did in the first book – she was so kickass in the first book! – but at no point did she decide that this was her war to fight too.
This book did introduce the one Hunger Games character I actually care about: Boggs. He was awesome, he stood by Katniss every step of the way, no matter how awful she treated him. He’s the best. I also started really liking Finnick; I would have loved to read the story of Finnick and Annie.
Setting:
The beginning of this story is set at Rebel Headquarters, and it ends at the Capitol.
General story:
Like usual, Collins’ action scenes where the best. I loved the middle of the book, I loved people trying to figure out how to overthrow the Capitol. But when it wasn’t about the main rebel plot, it was about the love triangle, and not at one point did I care – mainly because I was convinced Katniss didn’t love either of them, so her choice would never be about love and would inevitably end up hurting both Peeta and Gale.
I thought the best part of this book was the middle, setting it apart from the first two that were best at its endings. Here, the first part had too much focus on a whining Katniss, and the third part had all this deaths that didn’t make me tear up so much as annoy me. I get that people die, but these felt more unnecessary than war casualties.
I thought the ending seemed rushed a bit. I would’ve preferred to spend more time with these characters in the aftermath of the win of the rebels, instead of getting these meagre plot points. Then again, Collins’ character work has never been stellar, so maybe it isn’t that bad that she didn’t get around to it. What I did like about the ending was that it wasn’t an entirely happy ending; it held some reality.
Will I read other books from this author?
I might, but I won’t go looking for them.
Overall rating: 3/5
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