Mockingjay

OMG THERE WILL BE SO MANY SPOILERS! SO MANY SPOILERS! LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS! AVERT YOUR EYES NOW!!!!!





Mockingjay Suzanne Collins

Ach. I've been sitting on this review for almost 2 years, because at first I wanted to let it sink in. Then, I wanted to calm down a bit.

You guys, it's been almost 2 years. I haven't calmed down. I've just gotten more and more angry.

First off, the good stuff:

I read this in a sitting. I started reading and stayed reading until it was done. It's a gripping story.

I loved the further look into the dark side of the Capitol, the lengths they were willing to go to to keep down the population, the revelations about what really happens if you survive the Hunger Games.

I loved the fact that District 13 was no picnic either-- there are different types of bad. I liked how Katniss struggled with this.

Now the stuff that annoyed me:

Gale vs. Peeta. I feel like the "love triangle" took to much precedence in this book in way it hadn't in the first two. It was there, but seriously guys, THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DITHER ON ABOUT? Also, for it to be an actual love triangle, Katniss should have been a little more involved. I always thought she loved for both guys, but I never once believed that she loved either of them.

Katniss lost a lot of her agency. Every so often she stood up for or did what she thought was right, but in the end, she was a pawn of the revolution the same way the Capitol tried (and failed) to use her. While I understand that surviving two Hunger Games will break a person, she spent a lot of time staring at the wall and doing whatever everyone else told her to do. She stopped kicking ass. This may be realistic, but it made me sad.

Katniss pretty much loses contact with her mom at the end. For a book that was started when she tried to stand up for her family, this was something I didn't understand.

Now the stuff the MADE ME WANT TO SMASH:

The final battle. Now, the fact that figure head would be knocked out pretty early on and miss it? That I liked because it made it a bit more "real." The fact that, as a reader, the major climax we've waited three books for was summed up for after the fact? That's a craft flaw. And, I CANNOT BELIEVE I'M GOING TO SAY THIS, that's where Twilight is better. Because Meyer realized that she needed Bella to be out of commission for part of Breaking Dawn, so all of a sudden there were multiple narrators. And you know what? It worked. But instead, Katniss misses the battle and the reader does to. JENNIE SMASH.

And then... the epilogue. Now, I was Team Gale because the fact that Peeta was willing to die to protect a girl he "loved" but didn't really know always made me want to puke. Gale was her friend. In Catching Fire I got the Peeta/Katniss thing more, because Peeta was one of the only people in the world who could understand what Katniss was dealing with but still... I was team Gale.

I'm not (overly) upset that Katniss chose Peeta. There was nothing overly objectionable about him. He's Bingley to Gale's Darcy. Darcy's the better choice, but Bingley is lovely and easier to handle. BUT! Then, in the epilogue, we get this sentence: It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly. WOW PEETA! Way to beg your way into making Katniss have kids! Way to totally respect her wishes! And because she had kids because Peeta begged for 15 years (not because she wanted them, but because he wanted them "so badly.") I lost all respect for Peeta. Every move in the entire series became suspect. And Peeta went from being Bingley to being an emotionally manipulative asshat who played Katniss and used her the same way the Capitol tried to, the same was the rebellion did. And that's how the book and series ended. With me realizing that Peeta isn't a nice guy and that Katniss is a much weaker character than she seems.

Puke puke puke.

But, to end on a happy note, The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond is a really, really, really good album.

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Because you're dying to know...

Catching Fire Suzanne Collins

So, remember when I said that when it came to The Hunger Games, I felt like the blogworld gave it a 12 on a scale of 1-10, and I was giving it "only" a 8?

Yeah, well, Catching Fire? That one goes up to 11. Or even 20.

Seriously, mind-blowingly awesome.

Katniss thinks now that the games are done, she can provide for her family and go back. But everything isn't what she thought it would be. Six months after the games, it's time for the victory tour, but before it begins, President Snow shows up in person to threaten her. It's at this point that she realizes two things:

1. Her actions at the end of the games had far wider implications than she thought. She may have started a rebellion in the districts.
2. Her life will never, ever be her own. If she wants to keep those she loved safe, she will be playing the Capitol's game. Forever.

And then everything gets a whole lot worse.

What struck me most about this is the lengths the Capitol will go to in order to maintain control on their districts. Yes, this is a land that in the last rebellion obliterated one of their districts and, in retaliation for the rebellion makes each district compete in the hunger games for the citizens of the Capitol's own amusement. But the horror they resort to in this book is just... astounding. Especially when it comes to sending not-so-subtle messages to Katniss. This book is tension and fear. This is still adventure, but the stakes are even bigger this time around, because the Capitol of Panem is a government that's desperate but doesn't want to appear like it. It's is a government with no conscience.

And then Collins completely sucker-punches us with the last sentence.

I liked The Hunger Games but Catching Fire just utterly blows me away. Look for it September 1st.

Full disclosure: I begged an ARC off our teen collection development librarian. She had to start a list to circulate it through staff members who wanted to read it.

And, the hottest ARC of the summer is...

Today, my morning started with a happy dance, because my turn came to read the ARC of Catching Fire.

Scholastic didn't give me an ARC, but the teen selection librarian got her hands on one. She showed us at the teen notable books meeting and got mobbed! She started a list, and huzzah! Today it became my turn! I'm already a hundred pages in.

So, I thought I should finally review...

The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

In retaliation for a rebellion, every district must send two children to the capital every year to compete in the Hunger Games. It's a battle to the death and the winner is set for life. When her younger sister is picked to go, Katniss volunteers to go in her place.

Everyone and their brother has reviewed this book and I will say I really liked it and will definitely read the sequel, but I didn't love love love it the way other people seem to have. This is not my all-time favorite book ever, but it's a grand adventure that completely sucked me in. It's also hard to review a book that everyone loves because when I say I didn't like it as much, it seems like I didn't like it at all, which isn't the case. Let's say, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being awesome, I feel like the rest of blog land gave this a 12. And I'm giving it an 8.

I was talking with Sara at Book Club a few months ago. and she said she thought of it as a Middle Grade novel instead of Young Adult. She was surprised that other people found it overly violent and bloody because she thought it didn't go far enough, especially when compared to Ender's Game. I had just started the book, so I took those thoughts in mind as I read. I haven't read Ender's Game yet, but I have read Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies is a lot more violent and bloody and they were just trying to survive. They didn't *have* to kill to win. In Hunger Games they do. That doesn't take away from the book, though. It's more of a side note. I wouldn't go so far to put Hunger Games as Middle Grade per say, but I will put it on the younger end of the YA scale (7th grade up)