Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the third and final novel of The Hunger Games trilogy. It was a fantastic conclusion to the series. I had a hard time putting it down and find myself constantly thinking about the story.

In Mockingjay, the revolution has finally broken out. Katniss finds herself having to deal with the destruction of her home, the loss of Peeta, and the fact that she has long been a part of the revolution without knowing about it. Katniss embraces her role as “the Mockingjay” and helps the rebels to break the Capital’s hold through their own use of propaganda, as well as being a physical warrior. Katniss faces tough emotional and physical challenges and healing in this novel. The novel also has almost non-stop action sequences towards the end and was riveting. I don’t want to get too much more into detail for the plot summary as I don’t want to ruin the novel for others!

Overall, I thought The Hunger Games Trilogy was quite brilliant. The Hunger Games trilogy combined the best of many of my favorite sci-fi novels and short stories including 1984, Fahrenheit 451, "The Lottery", and "The Lady or the Tiger". Overall themes included the role of media and perception in how the world runs the senselessness of war, the repeatability of history, etc. It gave me a lot to think about and I’m still thinking out it.

A couple of quotes that really seemed to spell out the meaning of the book to me included the following:

Katniss - “Frankly, our ancestors don’t seem much to brag about. I mean, look at the state they left us in, with the wars and the broken planet. Clearly, they didn’t care about what would happen to the people who came after them.”

Haymitch - “We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction.”

I think both quotes are fantastic. Although this novel is about war and the rebellion “freeing” the District people from the capital’s rule, it becomes much more complex than that. How do you know if your government is any better than the previous government? How do you stop the cycle of violence? How do you treat all people with respect and not hold grudges against your enemies? It was very thoughtful and compelling reading.

The Ending (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!)


I loved the ending of the novel. While it was very sad and unexpected, I like how Katniss realizes she is a pawn and takes destiny into her own hands by killing off President Coin. She realizes Coin is no better than Snow with her willful destruction of the children in front of the capital as well as her use of a new “hunger games.” The ending seemed realistic to me. Katniss is a solitary creature and is finally able to deal with all of the horrible events of her life by returning home. I was glad she ended up with Peeta. As I continued reading Mockingjay, I realized Gale and Katniss were too much alike, and Peeta was the one person who was able to help her to be a better person and to relate to the terrible traumas they had both endured together in and out of the Hunger Games. While neither of them will be the person they were before, they can help each other to remember and be better people through their children.

SPOILER END

I am excited by all of the talk of The Hunger Games becoming a movie. I think this trilogy will be great on the big screen.

I highly recommend Mockingjay and the entire trilogy to those who haven’t read it. It is an action packed read with a great love triangle, but also a compelling thought provoking tale of human nature.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library