Mockingjay reviews
Suzanne Collins' (shown here) most loyal fans will read Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, no matter what the reviews say. But for those on the fence, here's a sampling of the first reviews for the book, which was released at midnight. (No spoilers included.) Nancy will be posting a more thorough review later this week.
Los Angeles Times -- Where "The Hunger Games" set the stage for the unusual post-apocalyptic world in which Katniss [Everdeen] first rose up from her inconsequential and impoverished life as an ace archer to win fame as a killer with a heart (and to become an unpredictable antihero for the masses), and "Catching Fire" uses that same stage to prime the pump for a brewing rebellion, "Mockingjay" takes readers into new territories and an even more brutal and confusing world: one where it's unclear what sides the characters are on, one where presumed loyalties are repeatedly stood on their head.
USA Today -- Still torn between two boys who love her, [Katniss] has been cast as the symbol of resistance in a civil war where both sides air televised propaganda and play with reality. The tactics prompt Katniss and other combatants to repeatedly ask each other, "Real or not real?" But it's no game. ... The novel's biggest surprises are found elsewhere. Hope emerges from despair. Even in a dystopian future, there's a better future.
Entertainment Weekly -- Fans will be happy to hear that Mockingjay is every bit as complex and imaginative as Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Collins has kicked the brutal violence up a notch in an edge-of-your-seat plot that follows Katniss as she tries to fulfill her role, protect her mother and sister and, in the end, finally choose between her two greatest loves.
Comments
I will be anxious to read Nancy's review. I was very disappointed in this book and in the character of Katniss. Not to mention, as the readers, we were left out of so much of the action that would have been so great to be in on. I don't want to post spoilers, but we were locked away with Katniss for all the action. Bleh, Collins blew it with this book.
Posted by: Kristy | August 28, 2010 5:16 PM
Have to agree with Kristy. Having absolutely adored the first two books I was thrilled that the final one was coming out. After the long years wait I endured I devoured the book only to discover that Katniss had lost her heart. She was beaten down repeatedly and finally emerged at the end almost an empty shell, rather then the Mockingjay the book eludes to. Collins even took Peeta, who had won my vote all the way, and turned him into a stranger, and someone who needed help even more then Katniss rather then remaining the source of strength he was throughout the first books. It could surely have been worse, but Mockingjay definitely left a fairly sour taste in my mouth.
Posted by: Jamie | September 21, 2010 10:48 PM
Bleh is right. Well, where do I start? Who wants to hear about another girl who has two great guys falling all over them like in the Twilight series??? NOT ME OBVISOUSLY. I found the last book in the series disappointing, disturbing, filled with lots of morphling drug hazes, and that it lacked giving me an emotional connection with the main character along with some of the other secondary characters.
Seriously, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and realize that you still have some things going for you Katniss…because this “woe is me” look just isn’t working for you. You can nail a squirrel through the head with a bow and arrow from 50 yards away, have two fabulous and hot guys that are obsessed with you and have risked their life for you on countless occasions in the last year, have a sister and a mom that love you, OH YEAH, and you’re a national leader of a rebellion that has the power to change the future of the planet and people even less fortunate than you. I swear that Suzanne Collins must not have taken her Prozac while she wrote this novel based on how it came out and I need to re-read the Chronicles of Narnia to regain hope in the art of writing a multi-novel saga.
Posted by: Ann Marie | October 15, 2010 10:04 AM
I was looking forward to this book, and even liking it, until every single person Katniss meets died. Plus, the fact that half the book is Katniss thinking that all of the main characters dying is her fault is really annoying.
Posted by: James | October 23, 2010 11:07 PM
I was looking forward to this book, and even liking it, until every single person Katniss meets died. Plus, the fact that half the book is Katniss thinking that all of the main characters dying is her fault is really annoying.
Posted by: James | October 23, 2010 11:08 PM