Mockingjay, Mockingjay

ah, the long-awaited Mockingjay!

since everyone who liked the first two books is planning to read the third one anyway, this is a review for the people who have already read the book.

disclaimer: contains spoilers. please don't read unless you have already read the series.

it's difficult to do a review on just the one book without taking at least a cursory look at the rest of the series...so i'll just mention the others briefly:

Hunger Games: this book was beyond brilliant. it was one of those rare books that is nearly perfect in every way and leaves you dying for more. AMAZINGLY AWESOME (5.0)!!

Catching Fire: i have to admit, i was a bit confused by this book. i thought Katniss already did the whole Hunger Games thing...and suddenly she's back in the arena? regardless, this book was top-notch, too. Suzanne Collins is in a league of her own. (4.7)

Mockingjay: it left me stunned. where was the blazing, inspiring heroine? instead of getting out and aiding the rebellion or finding Peta or doing something, she spent the duration of the story dejected and devasted. she was broken, not the heroine i came to know and love and admire. her story felt like it was already over, and it was almost painful to be dragged through close to 400 more pages with her. don't get me wrong--i actually liked the story up until about the last hundred pages. however, i was mostly reading for the other characters--not Katniss. the last 100 pages were the hardest because the characters that had been propelling me through the story started to die off, one by one....

overall, i felt that the series concluded on a very uninspiring note rather than the brilliant and awe-inspiring wave of emotions that i had anticipated. (3.5)