Mockingjay

Mockingjay
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, 2010, 398 pages, Young Adult

In Suzanne Collins’ highly anticipated conclusion to The Hunger Games series, things go a bit awry in my opinion. Yes, this book gives a satisfactory if hurried conclusion to the Districts’ battle for independence from the Capitol and even a conclusion to Katniss’s own journey. Yes, this book answers the Gale or Peeta question, but the problem is this third book goes to a much, much darker place psychologically than the previous two and I think a lot of people will not like where it takes them. I would even say this book will probably be too much for younger teens.

As we discovered at the end of Catching Fire, Katniss is saved from the Capitol’s clutches by a resistance force she didn’t even know existed. Now, they want her to be their symbolic Mockingjay to rally the Districts to stand up and fight together. The problem is Katniss can’t bear to be the cause of any more deaths and to make matters worse she might even have to count Peeta as one of those deaths.

As one terrible event after another happens, Katniss becomes more and more traumatized by what she sees. She also suspects that the resistance may not treat human life with any more value than the Capitol. This book is a dark look into the horrors of war, why war continues to happen, and what it can do to a person’s psyche.

AJ