Mockingjay: The Hunger Games, Book 3 (by Suzanne Collins)

I love this series, and 1 and 2 were amazing, but this book was a HUGE disappointment. Many deaths were unnecessary and Collins handled Katniss's reactions very poorly. She seemed more sad when Boggs died than when Prim did! For Prim she's like, "Oh. Gale and Coin killed her. Darn." Then she goes more insane. For Boggs, she's like, "NO! ICK! Blood! Boggs, speak to me! Give me instruction for this machine thing! Don't go!" And, worst of all for Finnick, she's just, "I said, 'Nightlock, nightlock, nightlock,' through choked sobs. Poor Finnick. Let's go." Katniss was a jumbled mess, and she wasn't even present during important events, like her trial. She was OOC (read: out of character) and all mentally disoriented. Yes, her reaction was realistic from pain and everything, but Collins should have changed it so she didn't need to be all weak and pale and angry most of the time. We wanted to see the real Katniss, the brave, valiant one! The plot was dry compared to HG1 and HG2 in comparison. Sure, cool twists, but it didn't meet my expectations. Also, finding her love triangle too tangled to untwine, Collins put Katniss with Peeta by relating Gale to Prim's death. I was a big fan of Katniss/Gale, and was really disappointed that it didn't end up that way, but it would've been tolerable if she had forgiven Gale and kept contact with him. The ending is maddeningly vague and is basically: the war ends with Coin and Snow gone, her best friend since forever just vanishes off the face of the Earth, she gets knocked up by Peeta for real, has kids, doesn't have any visible affection for them, and is still not happy. Her message is, "Ah well, life sucks and then you die, but it used to be worse so might as well try to be happy." WTF?? Anyway, I'm surprised at this website, because the sexual items in this series are big and not even mentioned in the reviews for HG and CF. In CF, Johanna is publicly oiling her-*coughcough* and is stark naked. There are mentions of Cray luring hungry young prostitutes during wintertime, and of course the kissing between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta. Not to mention in CF Peeta has gotten Katniss "pregnant". (They're 16 for God's freaking sake!) "Sex symbol" is used to describe finnick at the beginning of the book 3, and there was Katniss and her alterations way back in Book 1 (padding). Anyway, I'm disappointed in Mockingjay, but it is one of my favorite series nonetheless. You should finish, but brace yourself for disappointments in 3. Oh yeah, and get ready for a lot of gory violence, it's teeming with that. (Action too, no worries!) Get ready for some tearjerking deaths as well.

As an adult, I was obsessed with this series, which my 11 year old read and insisted I read, too. It is riveting and extremely thought-provoking and intelligent! As for age appropriateness, it is definitely very violent and grim. My daughter is more scared than average for movie watching, but was not affected by these books. I think this is up there with some of the classic dystopian novels I remember reading long ago when i was in 7th grade... Brave New World, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies. What is wonderful about it? Aside from being a really good story you can't put down... I am THRILLED to have a female hero who is really not at all focused on romance, though the reader is wondering throughout the trilogy if she will end up with Gale or Peeta. But Katniss "knows" early on that she doesn't want to marry, and she spends zero time mooning over boys. It is the boys who are interested in her! The references to Roman times add to the depth of the novel. I found myself thining about places like North Korea today -- this novel made me realize how incredibly difficult it is for a people to throw off a powerful, totalitarian government. It also portrays realistic responses to humans exposed to torture and war... they all have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. What's neat is we meet Haymitch and initially see him as a drunk and are judgemental of him... Once we are initiated to the Games, we realize he is suffering the inevitable consequences of having survived them. I found Katniss' decision to assassinate Coin to also be extremely surprising and brilliant and made me really think! Katniss was right, but I would not have been as smart as her. And one can have great discussions about: can one person be judge, jury and executioner? What if the person they are killing will otherwise become an evil dictator who kills children? While my 11 year old read and loved it, I think this book is better for teens and adults who want to intellectualize away! And unlike some other reviewers who were disappointed, please re-read Katniss' explanation of why she NEEDS Peeta and not Gale in the end.. Gale represents anger... the anger necessary for a successful revolution Peeta represents hope and rebirth, which is necessary for survival and carrying forward.

Not sure but it looks like Collins just got a new set of vocabulary since she uses not-so-complicated words in her first and second series. Some of the words might be too hard for tweens to understand but its good to keep a dictionary at your side while reading it. At first, I thought the book would "fail" since the plot from the start was REEAALLYY slow then slower when it reached the middle part then back to normal speed when on the last part. The best part actually was the last part and the epilogue, didnt really like the first and second and i felt like giving up reading it cuz its really boring.

Chances are, the ending won't leave the reader happy. The plot is very dark, very few people get out alive, and there are very scary images described. The book brings up an interesting idea about the "right" thing to do about war propaganda, loss of a loved one, and leading an army. Warning: this book isn't as good as the previous two, in part because she doesn't go to the Hunger Games. There is almost none of the previous books' humor.

This book is Amazing! I thought it was the best book in the Hunger Games series! I cried on the last chapter it was that good. Wonderfully written.

AUGH!!!!! HATED HATED HATED THE ENDING!!!!!!

hate it

The WORST book in the Hunger Games, but with a hooking plot that keeps the anxious reader reading on into the blackness. This was VERY dark and depressing. Many beloved characters die, unimaginable torture and practices described, though not too heavily, you can hardly trust anyone, and the main character sinks deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into a grave depressing state. Though I have to give credit to the author, Collins, for writing so well as to bring the reader fully into the story and its emotions. But overall, this is a book I doubt I'll ever reread because when I was finished I was just not satisfied with the ending and the story. In fact, one of the best parts of the books was when you learned Katniss, the main character, started becoming normal again and fell back in love with Peeta whom, I hope, became her husband and they had several children. Just by reading this you can tell Collins isn't very good at weaving happiness and genuine hope into a story, even giving the storyline and situations she could have made it more hopeful. On a happier note, the action was eye-gluing, the language pretty clean, and hardly any consumerism to look out for because... it takes place in the future! As for educational value, the reader's mind will be open to thought and discussion on future and tyrannical governments, sacrifices and bravery and tough decisions, and many more topics that deal a dark, futuristic world and justice. To look out for: heavy, though not too graphic, violence which includes torture, people blowing up, blood, and tons of other stuff that a normal thirteen-year old should be able to handle; some kissing and mentions of prostitution;one character drinks A LOT and morphine addiction in some characters; some negative messages about how to handle tough situations, how to treat your at-your-mercy enemies, and other dark subjects; most of the characters in this books are downright bad role models, but readers would normally excuse that giving their condition, and they hardly ever act hopeful about justice and peace. This is definitely NOT Suzanne Collins best book, but it was a gripping conclusion to her infamous Hunger Games trilogy. The story and setting gave plentiful food for thought about a world where its poorer subjects live in dystopia, considering many today live in that condition, and what just governments are. However, violence, drinking, bad role models and messages, as well as mature themes, add to the higher age rating, but if you put this in front of a tween I assure you they will read on for the justice of the rebellious characters and for the pure genius of Suzanne Collins writing.