Mockingjay or Swan Song?

This cold, snowy weekend has enabled me to do lots and lots of reading. Now, to catch up on the reviews!

I finally finished Mockingjay on Saturday night. The first time I read it, I hated it. I  didn’t hate the ending, but I thought it was the least interesting and more poorly-edited than the other two books. I thought that Katniss’s character was totally tanked. I still think it’s weaker than the other entries, but I’ve changed my mind a little about the characterization in this novel.

Katniss Everdeen has discovered that the 75th Hunger Games, or Quarter Quell, was a cover for a rebellion initiated by District 13. District 12 no longer exists. Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria have been captured by the Capitol. Katniss thus finds herself at a crossroads–if she goes along with the rebellion, she must accept becoming the symbol of the revolution, which means becoming a player in a different kind of Hunger Games altogether. While struggling with the swift and sudden changes to her life, she must also decide how she ultimately feels about both Peeta and Gale. Obviously, other conflicts happen, but I won’t give those endings away.

I think Suzanne Collins admirably depicts PTSD without sugar-coating or romanticizing the trauma that comes from the damages of war. Katniss is a victim of war, and her nightmares depict a brain that is broken by the stress and fury of war and being used as a tool for other people’s machinations. Some of the battles were less interesting to me, and in that respect, some editing could have tightened up the plot. Overall, though, the ending is wrenching but believable. I cried (as I did last time), but I felt that the book ended as it should. I won’t say more than that, I promise.

You can also read this review on my personal blog, The Universe Disturbed.