Friday, April 6, 2012
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.
It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by 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 had a hand in the carefully laid plains - except Katniss.
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 aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay - no matter what the personal cost
Mockingjay - what can I say. I know other book bloggers have posted their review of this book 2 years ago but since I'm way behind the times and have a huge backlog of reviews and other stuff to do, I only got to finish and review the book now.
I share my thoughts with the other bloggers: I was hugely disappointed with the third book. I honestly felt that it was all over the place, and the prospect of the war between the districts and the Capitol was not entirely enticing for me. The latter part of the book and the conclusion seems written quickly: I felt it had no real structure, leaving gaps and more questions all over the place.
It was disappointing given that it was the final book of the series, I honestly thought there would be more answers, and not more questions (unless another spinoff series would be created that would address those gaps - which I'm not sure if there wold be). *Spoiler* Sure, Peeta and Katniss did end up together eventually but what happened to make Katniss change her mind when she was choosing between Gale and Peeta? Where was the spark that ignited between the two of them from the first two books?
Why kill off so many characters in a span of a few pages without giving much dignity to some of their deaths (like Rue)? Why???
What happened to District 13? And to the other districts after Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta went home? WHat happened to the other characters? I want to know!!
Surely I sound affected by these characters and events as I was reading the third book to the point of exaggeration. I find that it took me much longer to read this book than the first two. Maybe because some parts were extremely dragging, whilst some were just... plain confusing.
So, what did I think?
Rating: 3.5/5 - It was good but not good enough.
Bought from National Bookstore.
Like you, I've only just made it to the end of this series (soo on trend ;) ). I was overly impressed either, and thought it was a sloppy was to wrap up a series that so many people have been enjoying. In fact, I think 3.5 is probably generous given the points you flag up.
My review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Oh, and about the Gale / Peeta thing. I think the nature of Prim's demise was probably meant to be the decisive factor there.
Hello! :)
Super late reply to your comment, apologies for that!
I find that I'm always a bit behind on reading these "blockbuster" books! I guess I'm not that interested in reading much when everyone's talking about a particular book.
And oh, about Gale/Peeta: the Prim factor might be the deciding thing but still, the book still lacked the reasons why! haha