Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.
Katniss
Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been
destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been
captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are
rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
It is
by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and
haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part
of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the
shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems,
has had a hand in the carefully laid plans--except Katniss.
The
success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn,
to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course
of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of
anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter
what the personal cost.
My review (Contains Spoilers)
Please excuse my rambling...
I thought all of the deaths in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was shocking, and that nothing would ever be as sad but I was wrong...
When you read this, make sure you have a box of tissues, you'll need it.
Amazing, Brilliant, Incredible, Those are a few words I would use if asked to describe this book.
I've been waiting for this book since the second I finished reading Catching Fire, but I was slightly worried that I would be disappointed by the ending (Some books, unfortunately, do that.) Boy, was I ever glad to be wrong. I started reading this book at 7:30 p.m. and knew that it would be impossible to sleep if I only had it part way finished. I tried, I really did. I kept telling myself "OK, after this chapter, I'll go to sleep." Yeah... I kept telling myself that right up to the very end of the book... at 2:30 a.m.!! And after that, I was up for another hour because I couldn't stop thinking about it... oops.
I was holding my breath throughout the entire book, anxious, hoping neither Peeta or Gale was killed off. (I cried when it looked like Gale was dead.) But I breathed a sigh of relief when they were both alive and (mostly) healthy at the end.
As for a few-not all- other deaths that happened, here is what I thought.
CINNA: I was in serious denial about this one in Catching Fire. I really,
really wanted him to be alive, because he was one of my favorite characters. (I kept telling myself that he MUST have gotten away somehow) After I resigned myself to the fact that he was dead, I was OK. Extremely sad, but OK.
Finnick: I burst into tears when Finnick died. And right after he got his Annie back, too.
Prim:OH. MY. GOSH. I did not see this one coming. At all. I was completely shocked. When I heard that some main characters might be killed, I thought Haymitch, Peeta, or even Gale. But Prim never ever crossed my mind. It didn't really even register with me at first. Not until Katniss found Buttercup looking for Prim, and then started yelling at him. Then I started crying again :( lol
The only thing that would have made me like this book even more than I already do, which is alot. Would be if the way it ended between Katniss and Gale, and Katniss and Peeta was a little different. As you know, in the first 2 books, the romance between Katniss and Peeta is a big part. But in Mockingjay, Peeta has been kidnapped, and isn't there for about 3/4 of the book. And, even after they get him back, he tries to kill Katniss, because Snow used Tracker Jacker venom to screw with his mind and change his memories of her. Slowly, he starts to comes back to himself, but I would have liked to have seen more of him and Katniss re-connecting before it ended.
And with Gale I feel like Katniss didn't get enough closure. After they get separated in the Capitol, you only ever see him one more time. The rest of the time, you just hear about him. And Katniss is so upset because she doesn't know if it Was Gale's fault Prim died, it just wasn't a happy meeting. I would have like to see things end with the two of them differently.
Overall, I am
EXTREMELY happy with the way that it ended. Katniss and Peeta together.
Finally. =D (Even though I still like Gale, I always have, and always will be team Peeta.)
Thank-you, Suzanne Collins, for writing an absolutely amazing trilogy! I can't wait to see what you come up with next. :)
Favorite Quotes:
"You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real."
"Finnick?" I say, "Maybe some pants?"
He looks down at his legs as if noticing his outfit for the first time. Then he whips off his hospital gown leaving him in just his underwear. "Why? Do you find this" -- he strikes a ridiculously provocative pose -- "distracting?"
I laugh. Boggs looks embarrassed and Finnick looks more like the guy I met at the Quarter Quell.
"You're a painter. You're a baker. You like to sleep with the windows open. You never take sugar in your tea. And you always double-knot your shoelaces."
"I raise my left arm and twist my neck down to rip off the pill on my sleeve. Instead my teeth sink into flesh. I yank my head back in confusion to find myself looking into Peeta’s eyes, only now they hold my gaze. Blood runs from the teeth marks on the hand he clamped over my nightlock.
“Let me go!” I snarl at him, trying to wrest my arm from his grasp.
“I can’t,” he says.
"If I could grow wings, I could fly. Only people can't grow wings," he say's. "Real or not real?"
"Real," I say. "But people don't need wings to survive."
"Mockingjays do."
"She's not here, I tell him. Buttercup hisses again. "She's not here. you can hiss all you like. you won't find prim." at her name, he perks up. Raises his flattened ears. Begins to meow hopefully. "Get out!" He dodges the pillow i throw at him. "go away! there's nothing left for you here!" I start to shake, furious with him. "She's not coming back! She's never ever coming back here again!" I grab another pillow and get to my feet to improve my aim. Out of nowhere, the tears begin to pour down my cheeks. "she's dead, you stupid cat. She's dead." <----(This is where I started crying my eyes out... Again)
