A review by kamrynkoble
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

2024 Reread:
I REALLY thought I was FINALLY safe, but I still cried. At a resort in Mexico while a boy splashed me and drunk Europeans screamed. This trilogy is so beautiful and gut-wrenching and they just attack me in a way that no other books ever have. Katniss isn’t even real and I would do anything to give her a hug. Man, this book is just completely devastating and yet the epilogue is still so perfectly hopeful. I know I won’t ever be able to write books this powerful but I am so thankful that Collins did.  I will never, EVER stop thinking about them and I’ve accepted that I’m going to be doing rereads for the rest of my life. 

2023 Reread:
Well, I’m sobbing. I just finished reading this entire trilogy aloud to my husband—the boyfriend in my below 2019 reread that had to sit there while I cried then too.

I love this story. I love Katniss even more. It’s perfect. Each time I revisit Mockingjay especially, it means that much more to me. I don’t think there will ever be a time I can read this without crying. Favorite books ever, infinite stars. 


2019 Reread:
When this book first came out, I was in fifth grade and I had to beg and plead for someone to take me to a Walmart to buy it. 

It’s always been my “least favorite” of the trilogy. It just has a different feel to it. The games are different, Katniss is different, Lord knows Peeta is different. It’s cold, it’s bloody, it’s broken. I kept forgetting who all died until I would reach paragraphs before their deaths, and would be afraid to keep reading and reach the inevitable. 

All three of these books broke me now in a way that they didn’t before. I’m older than Katniss now, not years younger when I first met this incredible protagonist. 

Even though Mockingjay is generally considered the weakest book, I found myself having to exhale and mutter under my breath at the profoundness of various phrases. It’s gut-wrenching. 

I think Mockingjay is the one I’ve reread the least. It’s not perfect. The trilogy isn’t perfect. But my word, it reached me. And that’s all I can ask for from literature. There’s no doubt in my mind that they will be considered classics, and I feel fortunate to have read them in their prime.

So here I am, sitting with my poor boyfriend crying over these characters and this story. I have a feeling this won’t be my last time returning to them.

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