Hardcover, 390 pages
English language
Published July 10, 2010 by Scholastic Press.
Katniss Everdeen's having survived the Hunger Games twice makes her a target of the Capitol and President Snow, as well as a hero to the rebels who will succeed only if Katniss is willing to put aside her personal feelings and serve as their pawn.
The best installment in the series, in my view.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I need to think about it more to sort my thoughts. This one is my least favorite of the trilogy.
There were a few too many conveniences at the end and loose ends that never got addressed. It also just kept going and going....
Nothings better than child murder... (sarcasm for those that didn't catch that)
Given all the hype, I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, I didn't. The characters were not very well developed, and as such, I couldn't relate to any of them. The plot was linear, where one thing followed from the last, and so on all throughout the trilogy. It seems that this linear plot was by design because it translates so easily to a movie format. However, the linear plot really doesn't make for such great reading. Moreover, the entire story could have easily been developed in a single book. Stretching this simple story over a trilogy was again seemingly for the purpose of maximizing profits. The writing, and the plot development, deteriorated over the three books. I felt relief when the end finally came; not for the characters I should have cared about, but for me, for not having to read any more of what was nicely wrapped …
Given all the hype, I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, I didn't. The characters were not very well developed, and as such, I couldn't relate to any of them. The plot was linear, where one thing followed from the last, and so on all throughout the trilogy. It seems that this linear plot was by design because it translates so easily to a movie format. However, the linear plot really doesn't make for such great reading. Moreover, the entire story could have easily been developed in a single book. Stretching this simple story over a trilogy was again seemingly for the purpose of maximizing profits. The writing, and the plot development, deteriorated over the three books. I felt relief when the end finally came; not for the characters I should have cared about, but for me, for not having to read any more of what was nicely wrapped up by the end of Book 1.
It seems to me that this book was a marketing contrivance, designed specifically to maximize profits. The linear plot makes for easy movie-making. The trilogy seems to be the literary fashion of the day, which lends itself easily to three movies. Sadly, the simple plot wasn't enough to warrant three books.
Once in a while I read a book that I both love and hate - love because it's fascinating or compelling or entertaining or full of wonderful and sympathetic characters or has a great plot or maybe all of the above, and hate for the simple reason that the story just doesn't go the way I wanted it to. This was one of those books. And then I realize that, with the exception of several details, I'm not sure the story could have been told any other way, and then I hate it even more. Doesn't make it any less good, but it does make it deeply unsatisfying. Still loved it, though.
Another riveting read...I obviously enjoyed this series immensely, even though I would have enjoyed a few more details here and there. Overall, very much worth reading.
I feel somewhat raw having finished this book now. I don't think I was really prepared for how depressing this book is. Whereas the first two books were relatively action- or plot-packed, Mockingjay spent ages to really get going. Ultimately, it shows that war is ugly, in every facet.
I was very moved at the end, and felt the last hundred pages returned the series to the glory of the previous two books, but I think too much time was spent pre-Capitol, time where the story moved too slowly, was overly depressing, and not entirely captivating. Whereas I couldn't put down the other two books, I was easily able to put the book aside for the first 200 pages.
Overall, I still give it a solid 4 as conclusion to the best series of books I have read in years. Throughout the book, I still cared about all the characters …
I feel somewhat raw having finished this book now. I don't think I was really prepared for how depressing this book is. Whereas the first two books were relatively action- or plot-packed, Mockingjay spent ages to really get going. Ultimately, it shows that war is ugly, in every facet.
I was very moved at the end, and felt the last hundred pages returned the series to the glory of the previous two books, but I think too much time was spent pre-Capitol, time where the story moved too slowly, was overly depressing, and not entirely captivating. Whereas I couldn't put down the other two books, I was easily able to put the book aside for the first 200 pages.
Overall, I still give it a solid 4 as conclusion to the best series of books I have read in years. Throughout the book, I still cared about all the characters that have grown dear to me, and I am looking forward to what tales Suzanne Collins will be telling next.
A great finish to the trilogy. This book really didn't go as I expected, which is a pretty rare thing. It was very exciting and thoughtful, and I was satisfied with the ending. I don't want to give spoilers, so I won't say more.
