Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publish Date: August 24, 2010
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 390
Series: The Hunger Games #3
1. The Hunger Games (review)
2. Catching Fire (review)
3. Mockingjay

**WARNING: SPOILERS!**

Synopsis:
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 plains - 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.

From Goodreads

With all the hype around The Hunger Games right now because of the movie, I feel like my thoughts are jumbled. I tend to push away from anything with a lot of hype until some of the hype has died down, which is why I’ve been putting off writing this review. I thought that the hype might translate into me writing a negative review.

Mockingjay is a fantastic finale to the series. I can’t believe all that happens to the characters and Panem in general. Katniss is no longer making decisions and running her own life. She’s a pawn to the people of District 13 and still one to President Snow and the Capitol. And you should know by now that Katniss isn’t one to sit back and let others tell her what to do.

Watching the relationship between Gale and Katniss grow while Peeta was kept prisoner of the Capitol was interesting. Even though Katniss isn’t quite convinced, she does love Peeta. She doesn’t yet realize that she’s not just trying to keep him alive because of a promise, but because she loves him. And when they do meet again . . . let’s just say it’s not the big reunion I was expecting.

The revolution is in full swing in this book. The districts are gradually rebelling against the Capitol and their Peacekeepers. Katniss and Gale get the opportunity to see the destruction from the front lines, both in the districts and in the Capitol. But all she can do is be the poster child, the Mockingjay, for the rebellion. She’s stuck getting made up and shoved in front a camera to film promos, encouraging the other districts to rebel and showing them what the Capitol is doing.

Mockingjay really is a powerful novel. There’s so much going on in terms of politics, relationships, personal conflicts, and more. And seeing it through Katniss’s eyes, the ones of a girl who never wanted to be what she’s become, we see the conflict and desire of one citizen of Panem, looking for peace in a war-torn world.

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publish Date: September 1, 2009
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 391
Series: The Hunger Games
1. The Hunger Games (review)
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)

**WARNING: SPOILERS!**

Synopsis:
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Captiol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

From hardcover jacket

Find it on Goodreads here.

I rarely ever read a series of books back-to-back. I like the break between books so my brain understands that they’re not all just one long book. However, I jumped right into CATCHING FIRE within a few days of finishing THE HUNGER GAMES.

I don’t know what I was expecting from book 2, but I got much more than I anticipated. The story of Katniss, the girl on fire, just got better and better with every page turned. The rebellions and upheaval in the districts set me on edge and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to the people of Panem.

The relationship between Katniss and Peeta just got more and more complicated. Being back in District 12 and having Gale around again definitely didn’t help that fact. I found myself constantly frustrated with Katniss and Peeta any time they interacted. I don’t blame either of them for this, their relationship is stuck between a hard place and a rock. So is Katniss’s relationship with Gale. It’s all just so complicated!

The story was much better than the one in THE HUNGER GAMES. In CATCHING FIRE, Katniss, her friends, and her family have to deal with the aftermath of Peeta and her winning the Games together. She has President Snow breathing down her neck, and the people of Panem holding her on a pedestal as the leader of the rebellion (in a very inconspicuous way). I didn’t know so much time was going to pass over the course of the book. It worked well, but I just wasn’t expecting it. Tiny sneak peek: we get to the beginning of the next Hunger Games. But that’s all I’m saying!

I feel very comfortable saying that I enjoyed CATCHING FIRE more than THE HUNGER GAMES. There was a larger variety of settings and issues to deal with. It was very political in a sense, because of the conflict with President Snow, but that didn’t detract from the story telling. It caught me off guard a lot more often, too, but that’s always fun! Definitely worth it to continue with this series. I can’t wait to see what happens in MOCKINGJAY! That ending has my heart in knots!

Oh, and I think I’m prepared to declare myself Team Peeta! ;)

Teaser Tuesday (34)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

DO NOT INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away, so that you don't ruin the book for others)

Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR list is they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from Catching Fire, book 2 in the The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It's rare for me to read a sequel right after the first book, but I decided to jump right into CATCHING FIRE so I could read it alongside my Twitter friend Momo from Books Over Boys. Here's my teaser for this week:

I was completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Gale - watching him talk and laugh and frown - that I would know all there was to know about his lips. But I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed against my own.

*Sigh* Of course this was bound to happen in book 2. It complicates everything and puts people in danger, but it also makes things more exciting. I'm really enjoying this book so far.

Feel free to share your teasers with me! I'd love to see what you're reading.

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publish Date: September 14, 2008
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 374
Series: The Hunger Games
1. The Hunger Games
2. Catching Fire (September 1, 2009)
3. Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)

Synopsis:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

From Goodreads

I know so many people who have read THE HUNGER GAMES and loved it, that when I picked it up I was kind of nervous about not loving it. It’s more common that, if the general public loved it, I’ll love it too, but I was still worried.

I was most surprised by how much “before the Hunger Games” there was: the reaping, the parade, the training, etc. I expected it to get to the Games pretty quickly. The before stuff was still good, it really gave us a good chance to see the Capitol as a whole and the role that they played in the story. It was also a great time to lay character foundations. I think that the whole first half of the book is evidence that THE HUNGER GAMES is not a stand-alone novel. There’s just too much setting up for it to get far enough into the story that it’ll be done at the end of 374 pages.

The fact that Collins did spend so much time in character and plot development really is a plus. It definitely gives the reader time to connect to the characters. Even though we don’t see Gale for long, we know that he’s the most loyal best friend there is. And through the things Katniss remembers about Prim and her mother, we can definitely see what kind of people they are. Other characters like Haymitch and Cinna all add their own elements to the story.

Katniss herself was a very strong female lead. Her main goal is to stay alive, and you can’t have any flimsy girly-girl in an arena with 23 other tributes, fighting for her life. Katniss was the perfect heroine. Peeta was a great character, too. Although he seems half-useless in the Games, you can also tell he’s a really great guy. What I loved about him was how he cared so deeply, and seemed like a genuine human being throughout the novel. No matter what the Capitol, or anyone else, threw at him I always felt like he was an honest, caring person.

Since the majority of the book was about Katniss fighting for her life, there really wasn’t a chance to develop much romance. It’s constantly in the undercurrent because of their strategy, but any real romantic connection between Katniss and Peeta seems improbable and far-fetched. But I understand that. Either way, I’d almost like to announce myself as Team Peeta, but I feel like we aren’t far enough into the love story to make any definitive conclusions ;).

Overall, THE HUNGER GAMES is a whirlwind of a story that takes you on the incredible journey of a girl fighting to live. Although the pacing makes it evident that this novel is the first in a series, there is a lot that happens. It’s definitely the perfect beginning to a series. I’m pretty excited to see how the story is going to continue.

Teaser Tuesday (33)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

DO NOT INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away, so that you don't ruin the book for others)

Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR list is they like your teasers!

This week I've got a teaser from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for you! I haven't got very far in because it's midterm time at school, so I haven't done much reading. Here's my teaser:

A few hours later, I am dressed in what will either be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. I'm in a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boots lace up to my knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow, and red and the matching headpiece that define this costume. Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls into the streets.

I'm really excited to get into the story and see what all the fuss is about! I know tons of people who have read this, both bloggers and friends, and they've all loved it. I know I'm in for a treat.

Feel free to share links to your teasers. I'd love to see what you're reading!