Book Bouncer Review: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins

Everything's changing.

Katniss Everdeen has become the face of a rebellion that she hadn't known she was part of, until she happened to shoot an electrified arrow at the arena of the 75th Hunger Games.

A lot has happened after that one moment of adrenaline and desperateness.

There is no District 12, and what little is left of the population of the Seam have sought refuge at District 13. Secretly, they are awaiting for Katniss to step up to her much anticipated role as the Mockingjay. But there are much more pressing matters on Ms Everdeen's plate.

Peeta has been captured by the Capitol, along with Johanna Mason, an ally made along the way of the Hunger Games that stunned every citizen of the Capitol to the bone - especially President Snow. It doesn't help that there is a new threat at District 13, recognized as President Coin. She controls district 13, and in turn, controls Katniss as long as the Mockingjay seeks shelter from them.

Matters get out of hand when Peeta requests a ceasefire upon the growing rebellion, and is labelled a traitor. Katniss agrees to be the Mockingjay in exchange for his immunity from the harsh punishment awaiting him based on his siding with the Capitol. But not everything is the same when he and Katniss reunite.

Katniss needs to fight again, and this time, she has every reason not to hesitate. She has every reason to despise President Snow. And she has every reason to be the Mockingjay.

From past experiences, every finale to a series doesn't turn out that grand because the authors usually aim for a spectacular ending to the entire plot of the series as a whole, and they forget the smaller aspects to what makes a book a great read. There are seldom times where I've come across a final memorable installment that wraps up a series.

Also, these are the 10 things that I ALWAYS notice in any last book.

1. There are fatalities - and 9 out of 10 times, it's the characters you grow to love that happen to be six-feet under in the end. (Example: Fred Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)
2. The main characters tend to argue more, or their ideas mostly differ and so they keep secrets and try to better a situation. The situation just exacerbates way beyond rectification.
3. There's more internal conflict (kind of like there's your very own devil on the left shoulder, and the angel on your right shoulder... and most probably your sanity is in a trash can nearby)
4. *This might differ with every individual, but it seems like the main character gets more emotional and slightly irritating. Personally, they over think way too much.
5. If it's a romantic series, then the relationship between the protagonist and their love interest usually intensifies and becomes deeper - they're more connected.
6. Normally, if not all the information about the past shared by the antagonist and protagonist is revealed withing the books prior to the finale, then it should be mentioned in the last book to connect the dots.
7. 50% of the time the antagonist and protagonist grow emotionally closer. This happens because the protagonist tries to find similarities between themselves and the villain to try to imagine being in the antagonist's shoes and comprehend the situation and circumstances in that way. So really, it is the hero growing emotionally closer to the villain, but the feeling ain't mutual.
8. The other 50% of the time the antagonist and protagonist grow more violent. Meaning there''s more hand-to-hand combat and bombs and war and stuff like that. This happens because the villain targeted someone that the hero knows personally and not out of common knowledge, or family and loved ones are harmed in the end. Sometimes there's a misunderstanding that leads to the protagonist making the first move and running head first into trouble.
9. There's a happily ever after!... 90% of the time, unless the characters you wanted to end up together didn't hook up. Then there's definitely no happy ending.
10. The epilogue usually sets the readers' aching heart to rest after that crazy roller coaster the author calls a book. That means that the epilogue is supposed to be nice and heart-warming, not all depressing and all. (Yes, there's a tone to the entire story to make us readers understand the plot and characters better, but please spare the epilogue and keep that happy at least!)

Mockingjay was a great read and a constant page-turner. But I'll quickly point out what troubled me about this book. In the list above about the 10 things I notice in final installments of series, I pointed out that I really need a good epilogue - if there is an epilogue in the book - to wrap up a series, especially if it's dystopian fiction. And if it's a trilogy like The Hunger Games, you would expect a nice end to all the suffering, right?

Wrong!

That epilogue made me so sad, even if it pointed out a valuable life lesson. If the epilogue had given me a bit more closure than it had made out to, I think I would have given this book a grand rating of 5 stars. If possible, maybe even 5 and a half stars. But alas, this was not meant to be.

Apart from the last few pages of the book that disappointed me, I think this book was brilliant. It was one of the few books that was better than the one before it. The action was there, the romance, unrequited love, and the various emotions that were always there no matter any situation.

Katniss Everdeen's personality is remarkable throughout the entire book, and her struggle extremely evident. It's reviving to know that the protagonist doesn't get whatever he/she wanted along the timeline of plot. Of course, I do want the protagonist to be happy, but it would be incredibly unrealistic if they never had anyone close to them die or that they didn't go through a hard time in their life. In this situation, Katniss gets more than she bargained for, but it doesn't match what she envisioned they would be like.

Peeta's a mystery in the first half of the book, having being captured by the Capitol and televised several times on Caesar Flickerman's show. And with every show, he looks more unhealthy than the previous time. In the second half, the reason behind his state is revealed, and they try to help him get better. (A shout out to all the Peeta fans out there, this book WILL leave you crying an ocean.) Will he ever be healthy again?

Will he and Katniss still survive the odds and live to see a better future? Will there even be a future worth fighting for?

And Finnick... Finnick! Couldn't guys like him ever be real? That would totally be a blessing to the world...

The Hunger Games is one trilogy that has so many thoughts and ideas behind the initial and apparent meaning. It's an eye opener as well, and if you haven't read the books yet, please do. Wherever you are, leave what you are doing and go to your nearest book store or library and get your hands on a copy now! It's all worth it... Promise!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay has been split into two films. The first has already released, and Part 2 is releasing on 20 November 2015. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne and Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair.

HAPPY READINGS (AND WATCHING), EVERYONE!