Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)

Book 1 especially is a real page turner as we get inside the mind of a young woman forced by her circumstances to undertake a remarkable challenge so that she can continue to do what she has been doing for much of her life - protecting her family. Seeing events through her interpretations and hearing her thoughts (or memories as I suppose they really are) mean we have a very clear view of her character. The story takes us from her 'selection' through to the end of the 74th Hunger Games.
I remember hearing the author on a radio program saying something like "what Katniss does has consequences, which is why it is a trilogy and didn't stop at one book".
Certainly at the end of the first book you cannot stop, there are too many questions about what happens next. The second book though is not such a brilliant read, but here we begin to get a feel for what is happening outside in the world, rather than just inside in the character. Is this just Katniss maturing, or is there more too it?
In the third book we are into revolution and war - a very different set up from the first two and a very different approach by Katniss. For me this third story was the hardest to read, it felt as though some of the characters needed to be removed before the end, and there were increasingly strange ways of killing them, like some sort of bizarre video game. But then that is the world she lives in! That aside there are atrocities for Katniss to come to terms with and her memories become a little fragmented it seemed (as they probably would in the real world, but I was in danger of losing track once or twice).
I read all three books in the lead up to my holiday, while I was away and in the few days after, rarely have I been so captivated by a trilogy, so having read them so close together may have skewed my view.
Highly recommended if you enjoy this genre.

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 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.

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.