"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

(This review contains spoilers of the previous two books in the series)

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead. 

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss' family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does not exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and it plotting to overthrow the Capitol. everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans- except Katniss. 

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss' willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebel's Mockingjay- no matter what the personal  cost."

If I had to sum this  book up in one word it would be confusion. Firstly, prior to reading this book I was confused as to why the reviews of this book were so black and white, with the people who completely loved this book and were happy with the outcome or with the people who are completely disappointed by this book and almost feel as if it almost wrecked the series for them. Having read it, If found that many of the characters experienced confusion within the story, take Katniss, for instance, and her concussion which makes it difficult for her to concentrate for long periods of time, or Peeta, who was tortured greatly and as a result has an extremely difficult time separating fact from fiction, or Finnick, who completely loses himself to a confused state when he mourns for the women that he loves and whom he believes to be in the clutches of evil. The first half of the book I enjoyed quite a bit and was totally like, "What are those haters going on about? This book is great!" But then all of a sudden it completely changed and I felt myself liking the book less and less. Overall, I am just confused about what actually happens in this book/ why it does and I can understand why many people take the latter side, that they are disappointed with the outcome of the book (and I swear that this isn’t just my over critical/ hard-ass side coming out, I seriously am confused by this book). 

When reading this book, like the others, I had no idea who Katniss was going to choose, her best friend of many years, Gale, or Peeta, the boy who did everything in his power to protect her no matter the cost to himself. And as previously mentioned in my other review of this series, I wasn't fully supporting/ rooting for one of the boys over the other, while absolutely hating the other (*cough, cough, my fully supporting Marc over Jace in Rachel Vincent's "Shifter's" series). I liked both of them almost the same (well, that is a tad white lie, I liked one boy just a fraction more than the other, just a fraction though- nothing major, I promise!), and I thought that I was going to be completely okay with who she picked in the end. But I am not.  I just hate how she didn't actually choose which boy she wanted- she didn't have an option between the boys because the other boy just left her high and dry to go be some bigshot without her (Okay, maybe I am being a bit dramatic, he did leave her because he thought that she would never be able to forgive him for something that he didn't intentionally do, but heck, Katniss forgave the other boy for doing a lot worse of things- which he seemed to constantly be doing/ doing on purpose, so I am sure that she would have eventually forgave unintentional boy).  And the boy that leaves her, well I guess it is kinda insinuated when I say "high and dry" that he never has any contact with her ever again... AND COME'ON!!! How can you just leave like that?

Another thing that kinda bugged me was just how much of a beating Katniss took in this book. I mean, we start off with her having a concussion, then she gets a bummed knee, then we find out that she has huge scarring on her arm from an earlier incident, and then she gets shot and bruises all of her ribs, AND THEN SOMETHING MAJOR HAPPENS (DUN, DUN, DUN)... Well you get the point. I won't tell you what happens to her in the end, but it isn't pretty whatsoever and it just makes me mad. I mean, I am not saying that her life should be all flowers, rainbows, and unicorns, because if it was, she wouldn't be the person we have all grown to love, but can't the girl catch a break every now and then (and I personally don't think that it as necessary whatsoever, it sure as heck didn't enhance the plot at all)? And another thing? I friggin hate it when a character has a concussion or something mental going on where they can not fully concentrate/ zone in and out of reality, I find it makes it extremely difficult for me to determine what is actually going on (I think I ranted about this also in my review of "Betrayals" by Lili St. Crow).

Rating: Well in all honesty, being super confused about this book, I don't think at this moment I can give it an accurate rating. I think I have to reread the book a couple of times and let it all set in before I rate it.... (I just don't want to feel like this book was a huge let-down to a good series like "Breaking Dawn" was to "Twilight").

Rating: 1/5