Thoughts followed by Mockingjay Review

Hello everyone....well I've been quite lazy on the blogging front but hopefully I can stay up to date now that I am back on track! It's been quite a couple of months for books if I must say.....I have been meaning to post a review of Mockingjay for a while but as I said before I have been quite lazy....I was going to write this review myself but I felt that I could not do it justice...so I asked a friend of mine to write one as she is very witty and full of wonderful things to say.....so thank you Heather for the wonderful review and I will follow it with some thoughts of my own.....(spoilers!)

The final installment of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy does not disappoint.  Collins creates realistic yet extraordinary characters, and from the first book, I was hooked.  I am a fan of dystopian fiction in general, and I think the series is one of the better examples of this genre.  It makes you think as much as 1984 or Brave New World, but the intensity of the characters and the challenges they must face give it a little something extra. 

The series' heroine, Katniss Everdeen, has demonstrated courage, integrity, and a heck of a lot of spirit from the beginning.  Mockingjay sees her character grow even more as she really slips into the role of a leader in the rebellion as well as tackles some of her personal issues.

In The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, good and evil were fairly clearly defined.  Mockingjay seems to progress through more of a gray area of morality, and the reader really has no choice but to reflect on this.  Who exactly are the good guys?  How much can you ultimately justify for the sake of your cause?  Surprises are also a more common occurrence in Mockingjay.  Whenever I thought I knew where the story was headed, Collins would throw something out of left field, making the reading experience even more exciting.

Finally, I wanted to respond to some of the concern about the violence in the book.  Yes violence is a prevalent theme in the trilogy.  A lot of the characters (many of them children or teens) are killed in horrible ways, and Collins does not hesitate to describe this in detail.  However, try to imagine the series without these scenes.  It would become virtually meaningless.  One of the reasons The Hunger Games trilogy is so powerful is that it forces readers to examine the effects of war and oppression, and the violence is necessary to drive these points home.  That said, parents have every right to decide whether these books are appropriate for their children. 

As with any book, one could quibble over a few plot points here and there, but all in all, Mockingjay was a terrific end to a terrific series.  Collins always leaves the reader wondering what's next, and at the last page, we can finally exhale and close the book with a feeling of satisfaction.

Great Review!!!! 

(my thoughts)

When I finished the book I was not sure exactly what to feel...I reread a few things and thought I wasn't pleased at all.....however...after wonderful insights from friends and reevaluating things I realized that I understood the ending more than was pleased with it. Don't get me wrong...Miss Collins writes wonderfully....it's just that things didn't go my way and I was a bit pouty about it. After thinking it over for a while I do feel that Gale could have had a better ending but he went his own way as Katniss went hers. I loved this series and it is one of my favorites I have ever read. I hope to see a movie in the future but hope the writers stay as true to the story as they possibly can.