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A review by berlinbibliophile
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This ending is always hard to read, but it is the right ending for the story these books tell. It's brutal, yes, but that is necessary to drive home the point, and Katniss's final decision in the end is the culmination of that.
There are a lot of great character moments in this book still, like Finnick's and Annie's wedding, and Johanna and Katniss training, and Buttercup in the bunker. But in this book everyone is also damaged by their losses, and Suzanne Collins portrays that convincingly. Both Katniss and Peeta have trouble recognising the truth, and that is due to their entire histories with the Hunger Games in these books, and with their constant exposure to and forced participation in propaganda. The fact that Katniss is a terrible actress and incredibly bad at staged propos while being incredible when she is allowed to be spontaneous is such a politically powerful contrast as well, not between the Capitol and District 13 but between the powerful people in charge on both sides and the normal people and the soldiers who are actually dying for these people's causes.
2023 reread: mind blown, every single time. Incredible book.
2025: after reading Sunrise on the Reaping, the ending made me dry a few tears.
There are a lot of great character moments in this book still, like Finnick's and Annie's wedding, and Johanna and Katniss training, and Buttercup in the bunker. But in this book everyone is also damaged by their losses, and Suzanne Collins portrays that convincingly. Both Katniss and Peeta have trouble recognising the truth, and that is due to their entire histories with the Hunger Games in these books, and with their constant exposure to and forced participation in propaganda. The fact that Katniss is a terrible actress and incredibly bad at staged propos while being incredible when she is allowed to be spontaneous is such a politically powerful contrast as well, not between the Capitol and District 13 but between the powerful people in charge on both sides and the normal people and the soldiers who are actually dying for these people's causes.
2023 reread: mind blown, every single time. Incredible book.
2025: after reading Sunrise on the Reaping, the ending made me dry a few tears.