Review: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games (#3)

Publication Date: August 24th, 2010

Pages: 390 (ebook: 288)

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Won in a giveaway

Synopsis

My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

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 plans - 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.

I am not even sure where to begin so I am going to leave here my reactions while reading the book:

I think that in comparison to the other two books this one fell a bit short. I was just in a state of confusion throughout the book (maybe because Katniss was too). 

But I do have to admit that you could really connect with the characters and feel what they were feeling (at least before the last chapters)!

Now, is time to talk abou the last chapters. Without giving anything away, the only word I find to describe them is anti-climatic...you spend three books waiting for something to happen and then it doensn't really happen as you were expecting...that really disappointed me.

I did think this series was really original and I really liked Suzanne Collins' s ideas...even if I didn't like this book as much as the other two.

I would still recommend it though, especially if you read the other books in the series and perhaps, what I thought was a very anti-climatic moment, you may find it a nice plot twist!

Review: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games (#2)

Publication Date: September 1st, 2009

Pages: 400 (why was my ebook was only 230 pages long? it still had 27 chapters and everything...)

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Won in a giveaway

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 Capitol - 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.

I have to say that this book was quite unexpected (mainly because I have been avoiding movie trailers like the plague)!

I think that the first half of this book moves a bit slowly but then it's action packed until the end. I like how we get to read about some districts rebelling against the Capitol and the impact it has on the main characters' lives.

I also loved that we get to see a little bit more of Katniss and Gale's reltionship, as well as Katniss and Peeta's. It's easy to understand how conflicted and confused she is and it's nice to see Peeta always trying to help her with her nightmares and supporting her. (Seriously, I wish I had Josh Hutcherson climbing in bed with me...)

Katniss's mother is also more present in this book and we can finally see the woman she was before her husband's death.

The new characters are also really original and really well-rounded and as usual, everyone is important to the story.

In conclusion, I think that this is a great sequel to the first book and it didn't disappoint me at all. On to the third book!

Review: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games (#1)

Publication Date: September 14th, 2008

Pages: 374 (well, the ebook is 267...the one I read was only 229 though...)

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Won in a giveaway

Synopsis

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning? 

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. 

If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

First of all, I am so glad I finally got around to reading this book. I have heard so much about it and I loved the movie so much that if I hadn't won it in a giveaway I would have borrowed it from my flatmate as soon as possible!

I think that this is one of the cases where I am glad I watched the movie first because, strangely enough (since I read so much) I am terrible at visualizing so it was easier for me to imagine the whole thing in my head.

Moving on, I don't think there was one thing about this book that I didn't like. I think Suzanne Collins created a fascinating and actually believable future.

I also loved how different all the characters were. They all had different pasts, different personalitys and none of them was a cliché which can happen sometimes in YA novels.

Katniss and Peeta, as main characters, are very likeable and believable because they are not perfect. They both have flaws, which makes them human. As for the side characters, I think they are all beautifully written and are important to the story.

I know that people in general are getting tired of love triangles, but I think the one we have in The Hunger Games is very well made, it fits the plot and it gives the book a nice touch.

All in all, I would recommend this book to well...everyone! I am really excited about reading the next books in the series!

Where you can find it:

Book Depository

Amazon