Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins

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.

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It is by design that Katniss was rescued form the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is 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 a hand in the carefully laid plans - except Katniss.

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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 her feelings aside of anger and distrust. She must becomes the rebels Mockingjay - no matter what the personal cost.
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Mockingjay was probably one of the most anticipated books of the year and I was no exception! While I felt it wasn't as good as the previous two books in the series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire), it was still pretty amazing.

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This book is incredibly emotional and gripping and in a way it physically drains you when you have to read about everything Katniss has to go through but still almost impossible to put down. The characters are all further developed here, especially Katniss. In this book she is more thoughtful and she's seems much more vunerable. It shows that Katniss isn't perfect, which is a more realistic expectation from a child that's been damaged from the heartbreakingly brutal and violent Hunger Games.

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At first, you are introduced to a new setting (District 13) and a whole hoard of new characters and whilst interesting and exciting it was kind of hard to keep track of who's who. One thing's for sure though, the action scenes were fantastic. They were all filled with suspense and adrenaline that kept you on the edge of the seat. The plot was constantly moving along and just when you think it will go in one direction it deceives you and dives head-first into another shocking twist. The fighting was much more severe and horrifying than the first two books as well, which gives great credit to Collins for being fearless with her writing.

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Also, along the way several notable characters die, which I suppose is what you come to expect from these novels. However, a few of the deaths happened so quick that I ended up just sitting there, book in hand, thinking 'Did that just happen?' and had to skip back a page to make sure I'd read it right. With some of the deaths, I felt there wasn't enough closure because nobody really dwelled on them, maybe it wasn't the right time or was too painful but I at least expected more grieving for one particular character.

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The ending was definitely bittersweet with an emphasis on the bitter. In a way finishing this book did leave me feeling empty and exhausted but there was a slight ray of hope and finality to it that I could cling on to that left me satisfied enough. It was an ending worthy of the series.

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This trilogy is original and breathtakingly chilling, haunting and intense. There is so much darkness and heartache hidden in the pages that its hard not to become attached to the characters and plot. Mockingjay was such a great end to such an epic series.

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Random Passage: No mutt is good. All are meant to damage you. Some take your life, like the monkeys. Others your reason, like the tracker jackers. However, the true atrocities, the most frightening, incorporate a perverse psychological twist designed to terrify the victim. The sight of the wolf mutts with the dead tributes' eyes. The sound of the jabberjays replicating Prim's tortured screams. The smell of Snow's roses mixed with the victims' blood. Carried across the sewer. Cutting through even this foulness. Making my heart run wild, my skin turn to ice, my lungs unable to suck air. It's as if Snow's breathing right in my face, telling me it's time to die.