Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins *spoilers*

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: August 14th 2010
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
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Caution: Will contain spoilers

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.

My Thoughts:

When I first started blogging, this book had just been released and there were seriously reviews of it everywhere. It was hard to avoid. Back then, I hadn't gotten into the dystopian genre yet, and I wasn't really interested in the series. So unfortunately, I read reviews with spoilers. The weird thing is, it didn't taint my reading the book this year. I knew some of what was going to happen, and I expected to not really like it...but I actually DID like it.

Seeing what happened to Katniss, essentially PTSD, was heartbreaking to me. I can't even imagine being in her shoes. And then add on Peeta's brainwashing and I'm just so angry. SO ANGRY. The rebellion itself is just intense all around. The growth Katniss has experienced throughout this whole ordeal is nothing short of amazing. Once you reach the end, you're so full of emotion it's hard to keep it contained. And I have to say, the epilogue was brilliant, bringing everything full circle and giving you something you never thought possible for them: hope.

Mockingjay was, to me, a realistic portrayal of how you would expect this world of Panem to play out. Yes, people die; yes, your heart is ripped from you. But, this trilogy wasn't meant to have everyone survive and live happily ever after. There's just too much wrong with the system for everything to happen the way you want it to. While I know a lot of people were unhappy with how it played out, I can honestly say that the end--while heartbreaking--was well written. Suzanne Collins definitely made this series go out with a bang.

My Rating:

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Source: Purchased
Genre: YA Dystopian
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Caution: May contain spoilers

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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 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.

~synopsis from Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Oh my. I don’t know what it is about me, but I have this tendency to like the second of a series better than the first. The Hunger Games was amazing, but Catching Fire left me breathless. There was a newness to the first book that made it incomparable to anything else. The second book, while it features another Hunger Games, had a focus on the politics of Panem. This focus might bore some people, but to me, it was the most brilliant portrayal of good versus evil.

Katniss goes through an array of emotional ups and downs, not only romantically between the feelings she struggles with over Peeta and Gale, but also with President Snow and the uprising. I’ve said it before, I’m usually an advocate of romance between two people who have known each other for awhile or grown up together. Despite everything I learned of and saw of Gale, I am still all for Peeta. With Gale, you just know that he’ll always love Katniss more than she’ll ever love him. With Peeta, he’s so full of selflessness and willing to take a stand no matter the consequences.

Speaking of taking a stand, I have to say, the private training sessions. Brilliant. Katniss and Peeta stepping out there and making a point, one that could have severe consequences. And those interviews… oh the interviews with Katniss and with Peeta. Again, brilliant. Just freaking brilliant. Cinna’s ability to stun the crowd with Katniss in her dress, and then Peeta. I swear, what he said, the most shocking of all confessions, it made me love him. I was staring at the page in disbelief and my heart filled with admiration. That. That is the type of person I could spend the rest of my life with.

Once we reach the Quarter Quell, I’m already so full of overwhelming feelings. And then I’m given Finnick. Wonderful Finnick. If it weren’t for the undying love I have for Peeta, Finnick would definitely be number one. There was just something about him, something deep and unknown. Although he is quite full of himself, there’s still a redeeming value when you learn something personal about him. There’s also Johanna--her boldness was definitely something to love. The end, of course, was intense and the last page was not what I anticipated. I mean, it makes sense, perfect sense, but I didn’t expect it.

Catching Fire was outstanding. I was up late the one night reading the part where the Quarter Quell begins and had to force myself to stop. If I didn’t I’d be up until four again, and then dreaming about it off and on all night. Even though I did stop reading to go to bed, I still had a dream that I was in the Quarter Quell and it actually did terrify me. And yes, I was Katniss. How can you not be when you’re in her head? Anyways. Suzanne Collins kept me on my toes and made me fall in love all over again with her books. The message alone has me taking my own stand for the underdog, but the story and the love between the characters is so emotionally charged. Needless to say, I cannot cannot cannot wait for Catching Fire to hit the big screen. And I certainly cannot wait to dive into the last book.

My Rating:

Exceptional: Stay up until at least 1 AM

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Source: Purchased
Genre: Dystopian
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
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Caution: May contain spoilers

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 Primrose, 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.

~synopsis from Goodreads

My Thoughts:

You know those books where you stay up late in an attempt to finish them only to look at the clock and see that it’s 4 AM and you can’t keep reading even though you feel like you need to finish it because you have to get up early the next day and then you fall asleep and start dreaming that you’re in the book and it makes you so anxious that you can barely sleep?

This was that book for me.

Writing a review for The Hunger Games at this point is almost difficult. I’d say that at least 75% of YA book bloggers (I’m trying to be reasonable in my estimate since I know some have chosen to not read it for whatever reason) have already read and reviewed this one themselves. So instead of going all in depth with the story, I’m going to talk about other aspects.

First off, I will have to stress how amazed I was at it. I went into the book expecting one thing but getting something else entirely. I misinterpreted what some of the story was going to be like. Yeah, I understood the premise, I just had a different idea of how the Hunger Games would be handled. I expected it to be like a gladiator arena. It was definitely not like that and the details of the scene of the game were much more interesting. I could literally picture the area, it was a compilation of several places I’ve been (mostly backyards of people I know and a video game arena, oddly enough) all meshed up into one bizarre world.

The background of the way the society is, and the way Katniss must live every day was overwhelming. When there’s something like that, something completely inhumane and wrong and unjust about a life someone is forced into living, it makes me irritable and frustrated. I wanted nothing more than to fix it all, but you can’t. You just can’t. Which is what’s so great about the book. This inner conflict to keep up appearances for the sake of your own life. It is intense.

source here

Katniss and Peeta. Wow. It’s funny, going into it I knew something was going to happen with them. I also knew that there was going to be a “love triangle” between her and Gale as well. And, unlike some people, I can see how there’s a possibility of her and Gale, because I do romanticize the whole “we grew up together” relationships. Then when everything starts to come out with Peeta before and during the games, your mind begins to switch and you start to fall for him. And you want Katniss to fall for him. It’s just brilliant, the romance.

In the end, you’re just BEGGING to read more. You want to know what happens next so badly that it makes you squeal. The Hunger Games is tremendous. It’s one of those books that can stand the test of time. It’s one of those books that epitomizes the dystopian genre. And it’s one of those books that I can’t wait to read the sequel to as soon as possible. Suzanne Collins has created an amazing tale. Now we’ll see how amazing it is on the big screen.

My Rating:

Exceptional: Stay up until at least 1 AM