{Review} Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games #3
Pages: 390
Release Date: August 24, 2010
by Scholastic

THIS SUMMERY CONTAINS HUGE SPOILERS!  DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT READ THE SUMMERY UNLESS YOU'VE READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS!!!!  My review isn't spoilery for the first two books!

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My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead. 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 plans - 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

After such strong first and second books, I was expecting this one to completely blow me away with the action and the story line.  Sadly, that didn’t happen.  This book, while still amazing, was not up to par with the other two.  It was boring.  It was weird.  And it didn’t make sense most of the time.  But, somehow, I still love it.  I think it’s because the first two books were so good, and because I am so invested in this world and Katniss’s struggles.  I must admit, the situation in this book was very interesting, and very dangerous.  There were a couple action scenes that I really enjoyed in the beginning of the book, but, other than that, this book didn’t have much to offer.  To be honest, it was kind of a mess.  I found myself skipping parts because it was boring, and also because the writing wasn’t that engaging if something big wasn’t happening.  The ending though…wow.  It was good, but so heartbreaking.  I will admit, I cried during this book.  Hard.  The emotions in this book were just all over the place, and if you’re really into the book, you’re gonna feel it.  And boy, did I ever.

To be honest, I didn’t like Katniss very much in this book.  This book really featured the love triangle, so of course that meant that Katniss spent a long time going back and forth between Peeta and Gale.  And, as you guys probably know by now, I hate it when that happens, because I feel it’s very unfair to the two guys.  So, for me, Katniss was annoying, not as strong, and kind of nuts.  Like, actually crazy.  She did not appear stable or coherent most of the book.  I struggled for most of this book trying to pick which guy I liked better, and I’ve finally decided that I’m Team Gale.  He’s just such a likable, nice guy, and, in my opinion, perfect for Katniss.  Peeta is a nice guy too, but for me he just wasn’t as good as Gale.  Anyway, I know who Katniss chooses, so I’m not going to say any more.

I am seriously so sad to see this series go, and, even though there are going to be movies, it just isn’t the same.  The books are/will be so much better than the movie(s), and I will definitely be re-reading this series again and again.

5 pink flowers

Quotes:

“I am going to be the Mockingjay.”

And in doing so, I give him the weapon he needed to break me.

“Fire is catching!” I am shouting, determined that he will not miss a word.  “And if we burn, you burn with us!”

“Better not to give in to it.  It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

This is one of the best trilogies I've ever read, and I can tell you right now that I will be re-reading these books for a very long time.  Words cannot describe this series...it's just that good.  Ugh.  The feels!

{Review} Catching Fire by Suzanne Young

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Young
Series: The Hunger Games #2
Pages: 391
Release Date: September 1, 2009
by Scholastic

While there are no spoilers for the first book in my review, the summery might be a bit spoilery so if you haven't read this series than read on with caution!

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Sparks are igniting. Flames are spreading. And the Capitol wants revenge.
 Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn

Wow.  What a sequel.  I can’t believe it.  This book was absolutely crazy.  But so amazing.  This book carried on the story from The Hunger Games perfectly, and added so much to the series.  The idea for this book, the story line, the staging, everything was so perfectly done.  The situation that Katniss is in can only be described as dire, and I was feeling every single emotion with her.  I was so invested in this book!  So many things happened and when I finished I literally sat there for like 5 minutes with my mouth hanging open thinking “What the heck just happened”.  Warning, this ending will kill you.  It was so thrilling and out of the blue, you will not believe it.  There are several twists in this book, and I will admit that I saw most of them coming.  In fact, I figured it out pretty early on in the book, but other things I couldn’t quiet get right, and I loved seeing what I was missing and also if I was right in my original guesses.  You guys, this book will leave you an emotion wreck…in a good way.

Who loves hot new characters?  I DO!  I give you Finnick Odair.  I love this man.  I seriously do.  His personality, sexinnes, and spirit made me love him immediately.  As for Katniss and Peeta, I feel about the same as I did in The Hunger Games about them.  I did really love the addition of a few new characters, such as Johanna and Beedee.  I really loved them both as well.

As I’m writing this review I have actually read the entire trilogy, and I have to say that this book and The Hunger Games are my favorites from this series.  What an amazing book and sequel!

1 thousand million pink flowers

Quotes:

“My nightmares are usually about losing you,” he says.  “I’m okay once I realize you’re here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.  I’m going to stay right here and cause all kinds of trouble.”

Katniss, the girl on fire, has left behind her flickering flames and bejeweled gowns and soft candlelight frocks.  She is as deadly as fire itself.

But what are the livestock keepers from District , who are dressed as cows, doing with flaming belts?

{Review} The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games #1
Pages: 374
Release Date: September 14, 2008
by Scholastic

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In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender.
If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

This is the second time I’ve read this book, and the second time I’ve reviewed it.  But, honestly, no matter how many times I read it and write down my thoughts, my opinion of this book will never change.  It’s amazing.  So. Freaking. Amazing.  The writing, I will admit, isn’t perfect, but there is just something about this book that I can’t put my finger on that just makes me keep reading.  The idea is very good and imaginative, and the exectuation is very well done.  The world building was absolutely amazing, which is sometimes rare in dystopian books.  You get the whole backstory of Panem and Katniss pretty much right away.  The story line and staging was asoltuely amazing, as was the action.  I got so invested in the world and the situation that I didn’t want to put this book down.

Katniss is one of my all-time favorite main characters.  She ranks up there with Yelena from Poison Study and, as you guys may or may not know, she is my all-time favorite main character.  I loved how Katniss was strong, defiant, mature, and could take care of herself.  She was selfless, kick-butt, and just down-right awesome.  There’s really no words to describe her completely, if I’m honest.   Peeta was pretty good too.  I really enjoyed the romance and the conflict, and Peeta was a strong character and love interest.

This book is definitely one I’ll read again and again, and the whole series even.  It’s such an epic, interesting, and engaging story and idea that it will never, ever get old.

1 million trillion pink flowers

Quotes:

Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her signature, “Happy Hunger Games!  And may the odds be ever in your favor!”

“I volunteer!” I gasp.  “I volunteer as tribute!”

At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the trhree middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me.  It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals.  It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.

No, the odds are not in my favor today.

Family devotion only goes so far for most people on reaping day.  What I did was a radical thing.

Before I can stop myself, I call out Peeta’s name.

I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.

For the first time, I allow myself to truly think about the possibility that I might make it home.