Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Once I was finished with Catching Fire, I couldn't wait to pick up Mockingjay. Unfortunately for me, I had only been able to borrow the first two books from a friend of mine. Her copy of Mockinjay had already been lent out to someone else. Unable to wait, I just downloaded the e-book version and read the entire thing on my computer within a day. This says a lot about my anticipation because I DESPISE reading anything for an extended period on my computer. The back-lighting hurts my eyes something fierce but I endured it for this book.

In some ways, it definitely lived up to my expectations and in many ways it fell short. Katniss sort of bothered me in this book. I understand that she was traumatized by both games and especially by the events of the last games and likely had a raging case of PTSD. However, sometimes life doesn't wait for you to deal. Sometimes you have to buck up and get it done and cry later. The Katniss that I had grown to love was someone I expected to power through the trauma and get things done. If not for her sake than for Peetas. Eventually she got there but it was a long road.

I had mixed feelings on the hidden district 13. SO much of the time it seemed as though they weren't all that different than the capitol. This becomes increasingly so as the story progresses. Gale was another person who I was disappointed in. His hatred for the capitol mutated him into something ugly and blood thirsty and he became almost unrecognizable from Katniss's cute loyal friend from the first book.

Despite being bothered by several things, I couldn't help but keep reading. The action was intense and I just couldn't bring myself to stop. However, there was a moment near the end where if I had a physical copy of the book in my hands I likely would have thrown it across the room in anger. Thankfully the book managed to redeem itself once I was done screaming internally enough to continue reading and I ended up enjoying the story as a whole despite disliking several parts. It's still highly recommended because you can't NOT read it once you've read The Hunger Games.