Book Review: MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins

Warning: As always, I try to stay relatively spoiler free. But it doesn’t hurt to proceed with caution. (Also, if you haven’t read THE HUNGER GAMES or CATCHING FIRE yet, you’re welcome to skip this, as it will pretty much give both endings away.)

 

Rating:  Five Stars—ajklsdflk (when words fail to describe how wonderful a book is) 

 

I’ll admit, the first time I read Suzanne Collins’s MOCKINGJAY, right after it came out, I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way Katniss is broken and her country is fractured and nothing is as it should be. But I think, deep down, I didn’t like it because it struck so close to home, because it told the truth about Katniss’s psychological state and her world when I wanted it to present a rose-tinted version for my sake.

So, when I finally worked up the courage to reread it a while ago, I realized just how much my view point has changed. This time through, I crazy loved MOCKINGJAY. It’s one of those few novels capable of wringing a few (measly) tears from my cold, Vulcan eyes. And I’m sure—at least, I’m pretty sure—that this one might be my favorite book out of the trilogy. At least it’s the most powerful.

That said, let’s talk about why I loved it.  

District 13. Without giving too much away, I love that District 13 doesn’t turn out to be a perfect save haven—it isn’t some utopian otherworld, set apart from the shambles of the rest of Panem. (I mean, otherwise, the story would have such an anticlimactic end.) In many ways, District 13 is even more broken, because at least the people in the other districts know they are oppressed—at least the government of Panem doesn’t hide its cruelty. Elsewhere, the ideologies that trap the people are obvious and undeniable—not so in District 13.

The Capitol. We get to see more of the Capitol and its citizens, and I might have accidently fallen in love with the poor, messed-up darlings. All the civilians are so shallow and pampered—I doubt they’ve ever had a true taste of life. And while Panem is all one country, the Capitol has its own culture entirely, built on the shoulders of the districts and yet somehow separate.

Plutarch and the Rebels. I’m still not sure what to think of Plutarch. On the one hand, I want to like him, since he is technically on Katniss’s side. But he also is on his own side, and that’s why I love, if not him specifically, at least his presence in the novel. Unlike so many others, he doesn’t worry as much about reform and freedom—before all this, he already had a certain measure of liberty and wealth (if you ignore the fact that no one is really free, no matter how rich, when they live under a tyrant). Despite the fact that he classifies as one of the good guys, you could argue Plutarch is only in this because he sees it as just another arena and just another Games. His cold mind doesn’t care about the body count so long as the action is amusing and flashy and television-worthy.

Johanna. I hands-down love her. She’s snarky and slightly mental and very difficult to like. She’s lost everything she’s ever cared about, but she survived. And despite her fragility, she’s still so strong, even though she no longer has the capacity, at least for the moment, to taken an interest in others. Actually, though, that is what I love the most about her, because it’s believable. Once you’ve lost almost everyone you ever loved, you reach a point where you no longer care because it isn’t worth it, because it hurts too much—and if you’re going to survive, you have to cut out that part of you that feels, at least for the time being.

The Way Suzanne Collins Breaks Peeta. I love Peeta. He has always been one of my favorite characters in the series because he loves Katniss’s unconditionally, because he bears with her so patiently, and just because. And I don’t think I ever appreciated him as much as I did in this book, since (like Katniss) I only realized how special he is when Collins breaks him and forces him to remake himself.

Prim. Just, Prim. Read the book, and you’ll understand.

Cressida and the Rest of the Propaganda Team. Cressida is basically a rock star. She might be just a director for propaganda clips, but I’m pretty sure she’d win her own Games if she ever found herself as a tribute in the Arena. And even though she’s a citizen of the Capitol, that doesn’t make her a product of their values and their ideals.

Along with Cressida, we have the rest of the propo team, and while none of them become hugely fleshed out, they all form a single entity—a valuable presence in the novel. I’m pretty sure, whether she recognizes this or not, Katniss would be a hopeless wreck without them.

The Propaganda. Because why fight a war with weapons and bloodshed when you can strike the first blow with propaganda? Seriously, though, never underestimate this tactic.

Katniss (Again). Suzanne Collins has it in for Katniss, I think. Maybe someone should take away her writing privileges until she can be nicer to her characters.

Moving on.

As I’ve said before, Katniss’s emotional/psychological state is quite believable. Having seen the start of a war (twice), and losing my home, my possessions, my friends, and my country (twice), I think watching Katniss work through some of the same things was a little too hard for me at first. I wanted her to be okay, because I needed to be okay. Now, with a few more years and a little more distance under my belt, I’m glad that Collins was honest and believable, that she didn’t just reach down with her magical authorial hand and fix everything for her.

That Epilogue. It’s the perfect bittersweet ending to a traumatic series. It balances the long-lasting scars with the promise of renewal, and it doesn’t leave its readers with the lie that life will turn to cotton candy when the battle is over. Instead, it leaves us with the reality that life is rough but we can survive.

 

Okay, enough with the inspirational stuff. Now I’d love to know if you’ve read the series, what you thought of it, and which book was your favorite. Also, what was your opinion on the love triangle, and are you happy with how Collins resolved it? Have you read any Hunger Games-like books you felt were better/worse?