Review: Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins
publisher: Scholastic
date published: August 24, 2010
format: hardcover
pages: 390
source: borrowed from a friend
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding.

What I Thought

Throughout most of Mockingjay, I was on the edge of my seat, just waiting to see what would happen next. There was so much action, frustration, and heartbreak for Katniss that I was completely engaged in the story. With the addition of new characters in the form of the citizens of District 13, especially Boggs and President Coin, there was enough fresh perspective and enough new problems to keep things from stagnating. It is the ending, however, that truly surprised me, and not for positive reasons, as I will examine a little later.

Even though she has survived the Hunger Games twice, Katniss's life is still fraught with danger. Not only has President Snow officially declared war on Katniss and District 12, she also isn't sure that she can trust the President of District 13, Coin. On top of all of that, she has been approached to become the face of the rebellion and don the persona of the Mockingjay full-time. If she makes a wrong decision, someone will be hurt or die. That is a lot for a teenage girl to handle. Katniss, however, does the best that she can with her usual caution, feeling, and instinct.

Many of the measures President Snow takes against the districts that are opposed to him are so very cruel and evil that it is very easy to stay on the edge of your seat, just waiting for someone to come along and finally put an end to it. The level of atrocities in this book is pretty well on par with those from the previous two books. There were some truly awful things that left me gasping or closing the book at the end of certain chapters to simply process what I had just read. Suzanne Collins has most definitely succeeded in creating a nightmarish world where nothing is quite what it seems.

Unfortunately, not everything was a rave about this book for me. I was completely behind the book until the end. Unfortunately, I can't say exactly why, as that would give away too much to those who haven't read it as of yet, but the ending felt like a cop-out to me. I was disappointed in the manner in which events came to a head, as well as the states Katniss, Peeta, and Gale were left in. The best way I can think of to describe it is that things were resolved, but left hanging, as well. The epilogue reminded me very much of the one for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in its overall gist. True, it is a completely different kind of book, but the culmination was all too similar to me. I was left feeling very ambivalent toward the whole thing. I actually had to struggle with my rating and even changed it after I had a night to sleep on it, if that gives you any clue as to how conflicted I felt about the ending.

In many ways Mockingjay lived up to the previous two books. In others, however, it left me disappointed. Had the ending kept the same about of action and sizzle as the rest of the book, it would probably have been the best of the trilogy. However, the end felt too neatly wrapped up, lacking its usual grit. As a result, I have decided to give Mockingjay 4 hoots.

Review: Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins
publisher: Scholastic
date published: September 1, 2009
format: hardcover
pages: 391
source: borrowed from a friend
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

What I Thought

When I first began reading Catching Fire, I was worried that the book would follow the trend I've been noticing in the series I've been reading as of late. That is, I was worried that the second book would lack the pop of the first book. At first, I thought it would be so as Katniss's everyday life in the victor's village is detailed. It didn't stay that way for long, however. It quickly becomes apparent that Katniss is in great danger. From that moment on, I was sucked in just as thoroughly as I had been in The Hunger Games.

Katniss didn't change much as a character, which I was glad of since I liked her so much in The Hunger Games. She was just as determined, just as wary as before. I loved the way her mind worked as she thought out all possible scenarios when judging who she could trust and who she could not. Though she may not have always been right, the fact that she was able to come up with so many different possible motives was fascinating. As for Peeta, he became more firmly established as an honorable person. Even when he is telling a falsehood, it is with a very specific purpose in mind, the results of which can be of great help to a land under the most severe oppression. You will know exactly to what I refer once you read it. Finally, many of the new characters were very interesting to watch develop. I look forward to seeing them grow further in the next book. I want to find out what makes them tick.

My favorite thing about Catching Fire is that I was always kept guessing. I can not recall a single instance in which I had already figured out what was going to happen. It is fairly rare that my intuition failed to hone in on the outcomes. By the time the book concluded, I was left with my jaw dropped. I love a book that can keep me guessing. There is nothing better than a shocking development in a plot to really make you stop and think about what you have read.

I am really hesitant to say much more about this book, lest I give too much away. I certainly wouldn't want to do that! This book is well worth the read. I have the feeling that I am going to be buying my own copies of the books in this series very soon. I give Catching Fire 5 hoots.

Review: The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins
publisher: Scholastic
date published: October 1, 2008
format: hardcover
pages: 374
source: borrowed from a friend
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge; 2011 YA Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

What I Thought

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book initially. I was worried that the book would be all hype and no substance. However, my friend vouched for the book, loaned the whole series to me, and even bet me a cupcake that I would love it. Well, I now owe her a cupcake, because I loved this book!

The thing that I found to be most appealing was Katniss's survival skills. I was especially intrigued by the herb lore she utilized to feed her family and, later, to treat injuries. When I discovered that District 12 is located in the Appalachias, things made so much sense and I was even more attentive to details (I grew up in eastern Tennessee and some herb lore is still used by my family, plus my cousins and I were taught to recognize plants such as ginseng at an early age). From the very first chapter you just know that Katniss is going to be a force to be reckoned with, and boy, does she deliver! While she isn't an imposing figure, she is agile, clever, and skilled, making her a tough opponent for the other Tributes. She also does not easily accept her forced role. Though she is pitted against 23 other teenagers, she feels compassion for them and anger for the what the Capitol has put them all through.

Many of the ordeals Katniss finds herself going through are terrible to the point that you find yourself wondering how anyone could possibly survive them with their sanity intact. As she works her way through these trials, you really get the sense that Katniss is the strongest contestant as far as constitution goes. She doesn't have to rely upon anyone to survive. This is what a heroine should be!

The other characters, while not explored in great detail, really manage to impart their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, as well. The Careers are well-established as the ones to worry about as they take on the roll of cold-blooded killers. They are downright animalistic and are fairly frightening characters. They may not be monstrous in the physical sense, but their bloodthirstiness is an alarming thing.

Finally, the arena the Games take place in is nothing less than brutal. While it first appears as a forest one might find in a state or national park, it proves to be a deadly environment. Between the prowling Careers, the boobytraps set by the Gamemakers, poisonous plants, and dangerous predators, Katniss is constantly kept on her toes. As each page is turned you wonder what is going to happen next, making for just the right amount of tension and foreboding.

I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I want to find out what else is in store for Katniss and Peeta, as well as what the Capitol's reaction is going to be to the events in The Hunger Games. I could barely put this book down. Thus, I give The Hunger Games 5 hoots.