ISBN-10: 0439023513
ISBN-13: 978-0439023511
Published 2010
400 pages
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Strengths:
Those who love the first two books wil appreciate this novel. It does not follow the same pattern of the previous books, in other words, no Games. However, there is a war and a rebellion underway, so the violence that was in the first two books is still present. The action and battles scenes have been praised by reviewers.
Those that enjoyed the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale will get to read more about this and finally have a resolution.
Weaknesses:
Some have criticized the ending of the novel for seeming rushed and that there are some loose ends that have not been tied up suffieciently.
***Spoiler Warning: Though this will not spoil the ending of Mockingjay it may spoil parts of Catching Fire, as what happens at the end of Catching Fire sets up events in Mockingjay***
After Katniss was pulled out of the Arena at the end of Catching Fire she was taken to District 13 which is where we find her to begin. Not everyone was able to get out though and Katniss is livid when she finds out that Peeta was taken by the Capitol. She knows that President Snow will use whatever he can to get to her and feels that Peeta is being tortured in his captivity. She wants to get him out. She is also being asked to lead the rebellion, as she has been the face of rebellion to most districts since her actions in both Games. Will she be the Mockingay?
She eventually decides to be the Mockingjay, but wants immunity for all victors of the Hunger Games, as well as the right to kill President Snow. She begins going out with a team, including Gale, to fight and see what exactly is happening to the people of Panem.
The rebels were successful in their attempt to rescue Peeta and the others who were taken from the Arena, as well as to rescue several others who have been held captive by the Capitol for years. Katniss is ecstatic to see Peeta, but something is not right. He wants to kill her. The Capitol has brain washed Peeta into hating Katniss and to thinking that she is the enemy. Those in District 13 will work to cure Peeta, but it is not an easy process. Katniss feels more alone in this rebellion as time goes on.
Once they rebels have control of all the Districts they descend upon the Captiol and things pick up. They have to hide out and Katniss is set on finding and killing Snow.
The ending is chaotic, with many twists and turns along the way. Just as in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, characters you have come to love will not make it out alive.
Unlike the previous two books, there is no arena or Games that take place in Mockingjay. A majority of the story takes place in District 13, the District that was previousy thought destroyed.
District 13 is underground and life here is very strict and regulated. Each day you wake up and get a temporary tatoo of your schedule for the day. Everyone is addressed as "soldier" because this is the home of the rebellion and everyone is a soldier in their fight against the Capitol. The leader of District 13 is President Coin.
The Capitol is another major setting of the book, as the rebellion needs to bring down the Capitol and President Snow in order to end the war. The Capitol is described as a city and holds the wealthiest people of Panem.
"At its best the trilogy channels the political passion of 1984, the memorable violence of A Clockwork Orange, the imaginative ambience of The Chronicles of Narnia and the detailed inventiveness of Harry Potter. The specifics of the dystopian universe, and the fabulous pacing of the complicated plot, give the books their strange, dark charisma."
--The New York Times, Katie Roiphe
"Collins does several things brilliantly, not the least of which is to provide heart-stopping chapter endings that turn events on their heads and then twist them once more. But more ambitious is the way she brings readers to questions and conclusions about war throughout the story. There’s nothing didactic here, and sometimes the rush of events even obscures what message there is. Yet readers will instinctively understand what Katniss knows in her soul, that war mixes all the slogans and justifications, the deceptions and plans, the causes and ideals into an unsavory stew whose taste brings madness. That there is still a human spirit that yearns for good is the book’s primrose of hope."
--Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"But being the Mockingjay comes with a price as Katniss must come to terms with how much of her own humanity and sanity she can willingly sacrifice for the cause, her friends, and her family. Collins is absolutely ruthless in her depictions of war in all its cruelty, violence, and loss, leaving readers, in turn, repulsed, shocked, grieving and, finally, hopeful for the characters they've grown to empathize with and love. Mockingjay is a fitting end to the series that began with The Hunger Games (2008) and Catching Fire (2009) and will have the same lasting resonance as William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Stephen King's The Stand."
--School Library Journal