10. MOCKINGJAY

BY SUZANNE COLLINS

MY EXPERIENCE:

Decent narration. Listened to the whole thing in just 2 days.

I enjoyed the second book in this series but not nearly as much as the first. I’m afraid the same is true here. The first was the best. That said, I did enjoy this one as well. It was a great end to the story. Katniss has been through some real shit in this series and it got way bad before there was any hope of it getting better.

The action was great, the “romance” got way more complex, the politics were smarter, and I was so delighted we didn’t return to the arena for another Hunger Game. I was especially pleased with the idea that since the revolution was being televised (heheh), it meant the Hunger Games had spilled out into the streets. That’s dope. I love that for the world.

President Snow was a right bastard, as all great villains should be, but having the leader of the Resistance be the back-up villain was a stroke of genius. I’d forgotten most of the film as I'd only watched it once, and it was many years ago. So that final arrow was quite surprising and awesome.

I love the continued theme that Katniss only works as a heroic character when she’s being herself and not trying to put on a show. She IS the show. If you give her a script, you’ll get garbage. But give her a bow and arrow, and send her into a warzone, and you’re getting GOLD. It’s the thing I love most about this character.

Still… I think the first book was the best. So I’ll give this one a more than respectable 4 White Roses out of 5.