Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book and by extension series left me wanting more yet fulfilled at the same time. So begins my review of the most hard to read book I have enjoyed in a long time.

Beware, thar be spoilers in the following, you have been warned.

The basic plot is a direct continuation of Catching Fire. Katniss has been liberated from the Quarter Quell and is smack in the middle of the head of the rebellion, District 13. In the militaristic environment, she struggles for independence and individuality while attempting to assimilate so she can survive. The plot is the same as the other two: Katniss stumbles around a new environment, is hungry, fights with someone about something, excels at whatever she needs to, then goes into battle and triumphs in a backhanded way. There, I did that without really spoiling anything.

All our favorite characters are back, with the point of view squarely in Katniss’s eye. She hems and haws through most of the story, looking for her place in the world that has been thrust upon her, blah blah blah. Looking at the mechanics as a whole, nothing has really changed about the structure of the story which makes the characters that much more important. And, I have to say it, I’m kinda done with Katniss. Most of the way through this book, I was bored with her. She’s a reactionary character for the majority of the time, having greatness thrust upon her over and over. I was much more interested in the side characters as more was revealed about them, but the novel only gave information as Katniss received it so we got very little and then her projections of that information. This made the reading really frustrating as you were thrust into her mindset so much that I did not feel empathy as much as I wanted to control her as a puppet. Go over there! Talk to that guy! This makes it kinda jarring when she does act, throwing off the dynamic of how much we are actually told about her state of mind versus what she plans to do next. I do not think I have ever had that in a book, a character where I know their thoughts except when he or she is actually thinking.

So this book is at its heart about Katniss’s struggle within the rebellion and her place in it. Is she a figurehead or a leader? A soldier or a vengeful being? In the end, none of this is really answered. Yet, it is. She’s just Katniss. I can get behind that, except that there is no application of that beyond what I stated above: she reacts when we know what she’s thinking and we get jack when she decides on a course of action. Also, key points in her story are placed off screen, fueling the reaction. The rescue of Peeta and the rebels winning the war all happen when she is unconscious. This is bullshit. Realistic, but bullshit. I equate this with Leia getting knocked out and coming to with some random we just met telling her Luke saved the galaxy. As a reader, this is frustrating as hell, yet I do admire Collins’s commitment to follow Katniss’s story, no matter how boring it may be.

At the end of the day, this trilogy I would put on par with The Lovely Bones. A great series that tells an epic journey in a realistic way that defies expectation to a fault. Sometimes realism is great, but I felt fairly disappointed through much of the novel. That being said, I thought it had one of the most touching and perfect endings to a character’s story I have read. I would not have been surprised if Frodo had shown up at the end to take her to the Grey Lands.

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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: Book Review

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary
After the Hunger Games, Katniss lives a now quiet life, going about her business and never having any trouble again. Just kidding. Every relationship she has is strained as she experiences every symptom of posttraumatic stress that can be imagined. This is all comes to a head when she learns other districts are in revolt. As District 12 comes under more and more pressure from the controlling Capitol, she learns that she will once again be put back into the Hunger Games to fight for her life.


As in the first book, the setting is rich and believable as a dystopian nightmare. Increasing the tension of poverty and governmental control, District 12 becomes a more unbearable and almost suffocating for both the reader and Katniss. As we move to the other districts, the Capitol and the Arena, we get a sense of the wider world and how the games affect not just our hero but everyone.

Speaking of everyone, we get a bunch of new characters from around Panem’s districts. Without giving too much of the plot away, many of the winners from past Hunger Games are introduced, giving the reader a very complex view of what it takes to win in a “there can be only one” scenerio. For the existing characters, more backstory is added to give everyone a more detailed character, such as how Haymitch won his Games and the fallout of that.

The plot of this story is the road to all out rebellion and kicking ass at it. Katniss becomes stronger in her resolve to fight the Capitol control as does the other districts. This resolve comes not only with themes of “what is right” but with sacrifice and honor. A fitting middle chapter, this book not only builds on the original but sets up the next in spectacular fashion.

Why was it banned?
This book has been banned for many of the reasons its predecessor was banned: violence and adult themes. People die, and this book is not afraid to show death and the ramifications that come from it. One could also argue that, like the original, this book encourages dissidence and rebellion from authority. Whether this is true in context or not, developing minds may not understand the difference between an Orwellian government and their math teacher.

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Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary
Our story is about 16-year-old Katniss and her trial through the brutal competition known as the Hunger Games in a post-now society world. Starting from abject poverty in a coal town where she illegally hunts for food to feed her family and progressing into the “there can be only one” nature of the competition, Katniss finds allies and enemies while under the oppressive all seeing eye of the Capitol.

Review
The dystopian future set up in the world of Panem makes for a provocative look into our own future, at least if things go to hades in some kind of basket. After a brutal war, the United States is divided into districts like a Trivial Pursuit wheel with the evil Capitol in control in the center. Our home base of District 12 where Katniss lays her head is a great entry as it shows how a poor mining town can toughen our protaganist up and give her a kick ass attitude.

And toughen her up it does. Katniss is so brash and likeable that I almost want her to be portrayed by 1988 Bruce Willis, spitting catchphrases and taping a bow to her back. The supporting characters are largely unobtrusive, hinting at more but held back as we only see them through Katniss’s eyes. The romance aspect works, but only to the point where you want the girl to get the guy in that “OMG, I’m Team Gale” kinda way. The soap opera is a distraction for the overall story, but one that will draw some readers in.

The story is fairly well told with spare writing that fits the action-centric nature of the book. The book is “show, don’t tell” almost to a fault, sacrificing description for pacing. And boy does it pace. Once our stage is set and everyone gets to killing, the pages seem to turn themselves. We also miss motivation for a lot of the action beyond “everyone wants you dead” and “except the guy that wants to snuggle with you.” I would like to have had a little more insight into why these games exist beyond the teenage version of gladiatorial combat.

Overall, this book a fun read. Those looking for a little bit more depth in their dystopias may want to just re-read 1984, but I see no wonder that teenagers are eating this series up. I am excited to go on to the next one.

Why was it banned?
This book was banned in certain areas for the violence and graphic nature of the deaths. For some reason, people do not like their children reading about dismembering each other. There are also some animals and implied genetic modifications that could bring on the nightmare. I would also not be surprised that some would object to the use of sex (as a weapon and defense) as a factor in helping you live as well as questioning authority and government in general.

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