Book Review

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
The final book of The Hunger Games series. I was so impressed with the second one that I opted not to wait until this coming Christmas to splurge on it. It probably doesn't go in a direction that most people would initially assume, myself included. It's at this point that you have to realize that this is a story tailor made for a generation that's grown up with almost nothing but reality shows of some kind or another. All of the action has been done with the awareness of cameras and an audience marveling over a twisted idea of celebrities. I think that's why I didn't initially connect with the first book all those years ago, but really it just hearkens back to the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome only with futuristic technology. Katniss seems to embody the gladiatorial ideal in this series. So, in the third book she's now the leader of the resistance, but only as a figurehead who is still just a pawn. And with this last book it becomes clear that the real power of her character is her ongoing defiance of those who are running the show. Even those running the rebellion, whose decisions are equally as misguided and even wrong as those of the president of Panem. It's a slower moving story since the pattern of society has been officially disrupted and because Katniss' exposure is tightly controlled for PR sake. But there are still opportunities for her to go rogue even within her confines. She also gets her chance to actually fight for the cause and her revenge in ways that reflect the Games which produces a satisfying amount of action, albeit a little later in this book than the previous two.
This book is also much darker. Darker, you ask, than a story about teenagers being forced to kill each other for entertainment? Somehow, yes. The world is fully developed and it's a nightmare on both sides really. The tensions of the war and the consequences for various characters within are deliberately ugly. And then there's a cruel twist of fate for Katniss towards the end that makes it seem like all of her efforts in the past two years were in vain. I don't know if I could've done it if I was the author. It's very sad. Sadder than my favorite character dying (which didn't happen this time, thankfully.) But a bittersweet ending is not uncommon and with the other two books, I'll call this a pretty great trilogy.
I don't have much experience with love stories or love triangles, but I think this one played out and turned out correctly. By the end she only had one choice. He represents the right things and is definitely what Katniss needed, I just had a hard time connecting with him. It's like he was lawful good and the other was chaotic good and I found the other more interesting because of that slight complexity. But I was never into this for the love story anyway. It was always Katniss' defiance that kept me hooked.
So, if you haven't read this series I sure do recommend it... Better late than never, in my case.