Mockingjay is the third and final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. It concludes the story of Hunger Games. I spent a weekend reading all three books (Hunger Games, Catching Fire & Mockingjay) and there, the story ended just like that. I guess every story has an ending. Besides, we wouldn’t wanna know any more details about Katniss personal life after all the hunger games and war ended right?
Plot
Having escaped from the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss is in more danger than ever. President Snow is out to kill her and the people she loves while holding Peeta hostage.
It has been revealed that the mysterious District 13 still exists, and is the headquarters of the rebellion. Katniss must decide her role in the revolution.
While Katniss becomes the districts’ icon, it turns out the rebels are as cruel as the Capitol’s leaders.
Survival and trust are further tackled in Mockingjay. Katniss faces a new responsibility by having to choose to become a mocking jay or not for the rebels. Things are really different as Katniss’ motivation is no longer just about her family but also the strong urge to seek revenge against President Snow for the justice of her friends who were killed.
Mockingjay is more serious compared to the other books as we learn more about the Capitol and how cruel they are, even toward the citizens of their own city! The focus point in this book is that the districts are in a revolution against the Capitol: who will win the revolution? Will Katniss survive it? who will she end up with?
New characters are introduced in the book that are mostly part of the rebellion group. There are tons of politics and I actually got a bit lost as to who’s really the villain and who’s really the hero. That made it exciting for me. It wasn’t a game anymore. War is really happening.
The love story wasn’t a major theme in the Hunger Games trilogy. I expected to see more of that in Mockingjay but unfortunately, the love triangle between Gale, Katniss and Peeta wasn’t expounded as I wish it to be. We just knew who Katniss ended up with. Somehow, I also felt that the situation called for Katniss to settle for a guy and it really wasn’t her choice for her. I guess that’s the only angle that I felt disappointed with. Nevertheless, Mockingjay was awesome!
Mockingjay has shown how real a person Katniss is. Both her weaknesses and strengths are laid out and you can see how complex her character is (just like all of us). She’s not perfect. She’s a teenager who possesses enormous inner strength based on personal experiences. She’s both a killer and a victim. At the latter part, I saw how she allowed other people control her actions which is really sad but a teenager can only do so much.
Knowing how traumatic Katniss’ experiences are, the book has shown that it had an effect on her. At least, this fictional story has some hint of reality which is really good. I believe that’s one of the reason why the Hunger Games trilogy is successful.
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Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins
Hardcover: $10, Kindle Edition: $8
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