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Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) | |
 | Scholastic Press 400 $17.99 3.5 431 3 Book 0439023513 |
Product Description Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.
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5 out of 5] Unbearably painful and hauntingly beautiful September 5, 2010 I've never thrown a book before. I've never stared at a book that's laying across the room and viscerally hated it. Then I read "Mockingjay." And now I've done both. After hearing "The Hunger Games" series being heralded as "The new 'Twilight'" I made every effort to steer clear of it. Only after I had a friend whose opinion I trust implicitly tell me that they were nothing like "Twilight" did I go out and get a copy of "The Hunger Games. Then I immediately went out and got "Catching Fire." Then I immediately went out and got "Mockingjay." And then I started throwing. (Note: There are spoilers below). I know many, many other reviewers have touched on the disappointments that are obvious in this book: The death of characters you come to love being tossed away without ceremony (I have to admit, when I finally let go of hope that Cinna would show up midway through the book, it was one of the things that hit me the hardest), the needless drawing out of the embarrassing "love triangle," the way none of the characters acted the way they should, the lack of a romantic flourish to leave us with a neatly wrapped relationship. When I first read the ending, I have to admit that I skimmed along, skipping entire paragraphs in a frantic search for Peeta's name, inwardly counting down, "Okay, only seven pages left, SURELY she's going to have him pop up now and sweep Katniss off her feet and it will be business as usual." And then five pages. And then three. And then the final page and the epilogue, and then the dramatic toss of my book into the wall. Then I left it. I made myself not think about it, because for the first time ever I read a book and wished immediately not to have done so. I was so upset with the way the ending seemed tacked on, as if Suzanne Collins got to the end, realized that a decision hadn't been made, and said, "Okay aaaaaand.... Peeta! That's it! The end!" But, against my best judgement, I went back to it. I turned to the ending and re-read it. And, although I'm not a sap, and although even as a nineteen year old I stayed dry-eyed through "The Notebook," I wept. The ending as it is is perfect. It's unbearably painful to not get the happy ever after epilogue that you want for characters that you've invested yourself in. You want to hear the romantic lines, the thrill of the proposal, the tears that dot eyes at the wedding. But Suzanne Collins gave us those: We had their first kiss. We had their stories. We had the proposal (as anticlimactic as it might be). We had Katniss in her wedding dress and Peeta in a tuxedo. We even had their first child. What was lacking was authenticity. And in that page in a half, in the return of the sweetness that was lacking for the entire book (and this was, really, a hard book, especially since the character that I looked to for empathy, for compassion, was missing for ninety-nine percent of it), we see what Katniss has become: that she has needed to become the girl on fire metaphorically, then symbolically, and finally literally, to become the pearl that Effie famously predicted she would be, that the layers she shielded herself with would burn off and what would be left would be the essence of her core that recognized her weaknesses and, more importantly, turned elsewhere for her strengths. At last we have a girl who is acting not out of need to provide for her family, or to keep a promise, or in return for something else. We have a girl who has lost most everything she holds dear and in her we find our heroine, in her we find an unbelievable character, and in her, we at last find the romance. So don't take this book as is, because it is painful to lose character after character after character, it is painful, like I said, to lose the sweetness that Peeta brings, it is painful to see the devastating impact that the war has on every person we've come to love. But in the pain is beauty. And the beauty is unforgettable. 3 out of 5] The Others were better September 5, 2010 For this book, Mockingjay, one might think that it would follow the other two in that it has tons of killing, scary moments, and fake public love for the tv....not only does this book not have that....it is also kinda boring. Well first of all whats her face became so not memorable i literally cannot remember her name and Peeta is her every other thought even after he tries to kill her. I mean seriously if somebody tried to kill me I wouldn't forgive them. But back to the book it was mediocre I personally thought that it should have been more like the other two and have an actual Hunger Games to it and not just talk about how some situations remind her of the Games...booorrrriinnnnggg! 1 out of 5] still waiting for delivery September 5, 2010 I ORDERED THE BOOK "THE MOCKINGJAY" FOR MY GRAND DAUGHTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA, SHE HASN'T RECEIVED AS OF SEP 8, ATTEMPTED TO TRACK DELIVERY, SAYS IT WAS DELIVERED AUG 26TH, I DONT WANT THIS TO A REVIEW, I JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DELIVERY IS. AMAZON PURCHASED 5 out of 5] Wow! September 5, 2010 1 out of 1 I love the fact that Collins lets the "gloves come off." It is refreshing to read a book that is unpredictable and does not follow a "cookie cutter" mold. And finally,boy, how our young people need to learn how media can manipulate and contol our thinking! 5 out of 5] I hate war stories but... September 5, 2010 1 out of 1 I HATE HATE HATE war stories. I only read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) because I wanted to read a story similar to Battle Royale: Director's Cut (Collector's Edition). This 3rd book turned out to be a WAR STORY. Blood, guts, people being tortured, blown up, killed. CHILDREN dying, important cast members dying, important cast members being permanently bodily scarred. I actually was impressed, she wrote war but she wrote it realistically. There's nothing that annoys me more than a war story where the hero and all the hero's loved ones and love interest get away unscratched, Mockingjay was satisfying in that the author allowed her characters to get hurt and suffer and lose. Honestly, I read the bad reviews and I understand how a lot of readers were upset about certain people dying and whatnot but I was satisfied with the ending. I don't think a trilogy where children have been sent to a televised in order to KILL EACH OTHER for the last 75 years could have ended in a soft fluffy way all wrapped up in a tidy little bow. I think the author fulfilled her promise and did a solid job wrapping up the story. | |
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