Mockingjay

Wow..Wow..Wow...this third installment was awesome! Pulls you in right from the start and never lets you go until you've finished it.
Couldn't keep my eyes dry near the end.

This is a book that stays with you a while after you finish it..at least I have a feeling it does with me.

Will definitely recommend this series to other people who haven't read it yet.

This is not at all the type of story I thought I was getting into when I started reading The Hunger Games, but it is so, so worth it. Powerful.

this depression...not my favorite series XP

NOt a big fan of the ending although its not expected.

sin tener en cuenta la poca participación de Katniss en la guerra y la casi nula acción, no me gustó el final. Katniss sufre demasiado y no se habla mucho de Peeta, lo cual me pareció que dejaba un vacío en la historia. Además faltan detalles sobre la familia de Peeta y Gale, qué fue de Effie durante todo ese tiempo, etc. Hay mucha información que faltó y el final no le pareció muy justo. Ojalá la autora escriba un cuento corto donde explique los detalles que faltan.

Since we all already know what the story is about, I'll just get on with what I think.

At the beginning of Mockingjay, I was appeased because the story line is actually different from the first two books in the series. And the story picks up right where Catching Fire leaves us and takes off running. There's a lot of hope for Katniss to end up being the outstanding badass leader that we all thought she could eventually become. I liked the pace and the slight mystery of whether or not the rebels truly have noble plans. I liked the development of Finnick's and Prim's characters. Things even started getting a little exciting when Katniss finally went into combat to take the Capitol.

Then about 75% through, I think Suzanne Collins just got tired of writing and everything went into super-hyper-wtf most-undeveloped-plot-ever speed. I did not like the ending, but it would have been ok if the story immediately leading up to it had actually been told.

Now I'm just MAD. This series as a whole is actually not well developed in my opinion. There is a lot of action, but hardly any character development... no lessons learned, etc. Katniss, in the end, ends up being just as empty as she was in the beginning. Humanity has no development.. just different groups manipulating and using other groups. And the love triangle... GAG!!! Katniss never even really had to make a decision.

I do not get why this has become the end all, be all for YA dystopian fiction. I've never been a huge dystopian reader, but now I think I will be on a mission to prove that there is better stuff out there... STAY TUNED.

Rant over for now.

Sheesh, that was depressing. How are they gonna make this into a movie without everyone wanting to jump off a bridge after they leave the theater?

The strongest of all 3. The first half had a really good character progression and insight of Katniss's thoughts. The second half is more action oriented but with some good dialog here and there. All in all worth a read and a good finish.

a great series. the movie is a nice adition to the books. but read the books.......

Good series. I enjoyed the books because of the solid storyline, great characters and most importantly, because of the social commentary and serious themes.

The criticisms I have, may be a age related thing. The herione is exasperating in her struggles with over-complicating human interactions and misreading situations. Granted, she is 16 and 17 in the novels, but... she is not quite the “role-model” I would have expected. Even with some of her unexpected choices, I would have expected a bit more depth in her analysis of most situations.

Plus the endless “do I love him!?!?” theme throughout the books is maddening. But that is definitely an age thing. For the target audience, it is probably perfect. In fact, it's a teenage gal's perfect storyline, right?: Headstrong tomboy of a girl out-thinks adults and is deeply desired by multiple goodlooking young men. What teanage girl doesn't fantasize about that situation?

The real shocker of this series, though, was the bravery the author had in the choice of endings. Most of the series is a bit repitive and predictable (though still fun) but the ending is not. And I applaud the author for bravely rejecting what was expected and in the process, putting a nice capper on her stream of social commentary.

What a disappointment, among my complaints:
- This is the first book I have read in which the poor grammar has snapped me out of my reading. It's unbelievable how many times this happened. Some parts of it are the writing style, but other parts are just pure grammatical errors.
- I came to dislike the protagonist, unable to emphasise.
- The story churned into a dull love-triangle.

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

ATENÇÃO: Essa resenha fala sobre o último livro da trilogia “Jogos Vorazes”, então se você não leu os outros dois (Jogos Vorazes e Em Chamas), recomendo que não leia esta resenha, pois terá spoilers.

E aqui estamos, na reta final. A revolução chegou, e não há volta. Katniss escapou novamente dos Jogos Vorazes, mas Peeta ficou para trás, preso na Capital. O Distrito 12 deixou de existir, bombardeado pela Capital, poucas pessoas restaram, e só a Aldeia dos Vitoriosos se encontra de pé. Ela acorda no Distrito 13, antes conhecido como um o distrito destruído, e que acabou sendo que na verdade um distrito que conseguiu fugir das garras da Capital e sobrevivia à duras penas no subterrâneo.

Katniss foi resgatada para ser o Tordo, o rosto e o incentivo para os distritos finalmente se libertarem da Capital e se rebelarem junto ao 13. Entretanto, a coisa não é tão fácil quanto parece. Katniss permanece dividida entre seguir essa função, a preocupação com a vida de todos que ama e a desconfiança perante à presidente Corin, líder dos rebeldes.

Aceitando sua missão, Katniss passa a visitar os distritos e ver a destruição que a revolta causou neles. Milhares de pessoas mortas, doentes, feridas, e uma devastação desoladora. Com sua impulsividade ela consegue o que ninguém consegue num estúdio, a raiva e a força para incentivar a população. Mas muito tem a acontecer ainda. Katniss percebe que mais uma vez está presa numa situação em que nem tudo está sendo contado para ela, e esse sentimento de que está sendo novamente usada a faz repensar muita coisa.

O livro gira em torno de muitos assuntos dolorosos e reflexivos para todos nós. Até que ponto uma guerra, um ataque, é aceitável? Até que ponto pode se fazer uso da força, e o pior de tudo, o que há realmente por trás das causas que lutamos?

O término do livro foi doloroso por muitos mais motivos do que só o término de uma história, e apesar de muitas vezes ter ficado com raiva da passividade e da impulsividade de Katniss, no fundo temos que ver que é somente uma menina, que teve que amadurecer e passar por coisas inimagináveis até a idade apresentada no final, e que sofre muito mais abalos mentais que possamos um dia sofrer.

Deixo aqui um convite não só para a leitura da série, mas também para refletir nas atitudes e no que o livro realmente debate pois, ao meu ver, esse livro só se encaixa num público juvenil para que se possa ter a esperança de um povo com mais humanidade.

“Bem no fundo da campina, embaixo do salgueiro
Um leito de grama, um macio e verde travesseiro
Deite a cabeça e feche esses olhos cansados
E quando eles se abrirem, o sol já estará alto nos prados.

Aqui é seguro, aqui é um abrigo
Aqui as margaridas lhe protegem de todo perigo
Aqui seus sonhos são doces e amanhã serão lei
Aqui é o local onde eu sempre lhe amarei.”

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/03/esperanca.html

Hunger Games - Il canto della rivolta (Mockingjay) è un romanzo di fantascienza del 2010 scritto da Suzanne Collins, il terzo della trilogia degli Hunger Games, in cui prosegue il racconto di Katniss Everdeen e la futuristica nazione di Panem.

Dopo aver letto il primo capitolo della trilogia, “Hunger Games” ed averlo apprezzato molto e il secondo, “La ragazza di fuoco” ed averlo apprezzato meno, ho concluso in una carrellata continua anche il terzo e finale capitolo della trilogia. Mi è piaciuto? No, assolutamente. Questa trilogia è un classico esempio di come si ha una bellissima idea, una bella ambientazione e dei buoni personaggi (non ottimi, ma buoni) e buttare alle ortiche il tutto strada facendo.

La lunga via che da “Ghiandaia Imitatrice” porta ad Oca Padovana, è stato breve, o lungo a seconda dei canoni di ritmi di lettura di ognuno; ma lungo o breve che sia, il percorso è stato compiuto fino in fondo e dalle penne nere e bianche si è arrivati dritti dritti alle piante palmate. Sì perché un buon conto è tratteggiare più umanamente possibile il carattere della Everdeen: vanno bene le insicurezze propriamente adolescenziali, vanno benissimo le titubanze, le angosce e il panico dovuti dall'affrontare eventi molto più grandi di te, ma arrivare a non fare nulla per le prime duecento pagine di libro è un po' troppo. E non parliamo della pappa scaldata ancora una volta dell'arena dei giochi, idea bellissima nel primo libro, ricotta nel secondo e trasformata e riproposta con il sugo sopra per nasconderla anche nel terzo, e basta!

E alla fine cosa esce dal forno? Dopo un primo libro ben riuscito, a dadi lanciati, a giochi fatti, è soltanto una delle tante saghe e trilogie, tipicamente adolescenziali che non esce dagli stessi stereotipi di tutte le altre, sembra che i ragazzi d'oggi non riescano che leggere e farsi piacere, storie come queste.

Vogliamo parlare dell'inettitudine dei protagonisti? Dello scempio subito di alcuni? Dell'idiozia di altri? Della trama che negli ultimi due libri è sempre sotto lo stesso filo conduttore? E vogliamo davvero parlare di un finale così banale che al confronto qualsiasi telenovella di terza categoria si sarebbe evitata?

Insomma arrivato all'ennesimo ricovero di Katniss in ospedale, che da sola contribuisce all'intera spesa pubblica della sanità di Panem, direi che se ne può avere abbastanza di Ghiandaie per tutta la vita. Ti assale un senso di disturbo grave che fa a gara con quello dei protagonisti e sfiora la paranoia. Altro che gli incubi notturni di Katniss, non sono niente se paragonati a quelli del lettore.

Indigesto finale, di una trilogia che sembrava un successo alla fine del primo libro, ha cominciato a morire nel secondo ed è arrivata a deludere tutte le aspettative, cadendo nel banale assoluto nel terzo.

Not the most interesting book. It is slow at times. But the development of the characters and everything really is what grips you and makes you want to see it through. And I did enjoy it and loved the characters and the story which is why I gave it 5 stars.

It gets better and less infuriating the more your read it

I liked The Hunger Games for what it was: not great literature, but an entertaining read. Catching Fire was better executed, in my opinion, but still largely for entertainment value. It only made sense that Mockingjay, the final book in the series, would be entertaining as well. I'm not sure what it was trying to be, but it failed in the arena of entertainment. It failed the series as a whole; it just kind of sucked the life right out of it.

And I'll say it right now, a large part of what ruined this book (and made a trainwreck of the series) was the ending. No, I'm not upset because so-and-so died or because the girl didn't end up with the guy I was rooting for, I'm annoyed that it lacked any kind of entertainment. Normally, I don't care about such things, give me a character staring off into the distance considering life for the last ten pages, I'm happy with that, but we're talking about a series deliberately written for entertainment. Give the readers something thrilling. Instead, what we got, was a fourth book crammed into the last one hundred pages and the story told in these pages was not only anti-climatic, but completely nonsensical. The actions the characters take follow no logic whatsoever, it's merely a case of the author needing to finish up the book quickly.

Hands down, I expected fireworks shooting out of my butt for a series such as this. Instead, what I got was a broken occupied sign on a portable toilet. Disappointing. And what makes it worse is that one hundred pages from the ending, I had it figured out. I knew how Collins was going to end it and it was brilliant. Brilliant. A somewhat predictable Rod Serling-esque of an ending, but what I expected from this series. I thought that following the ending of Catching Fire Katniss was actually kidnapped by the Capitol and was being subjected to the tracker jacker venom instead of Peeta, that none of this nonsensical over-the-top war was happening, that the book would end with Peeta and co. playing the “real”/ “not real” game with Katniss. I was looking forward to that. Then, somewhere in the last ten page, I had another ending that was even more shocking. I had one of those OMG moments reserved for special books like McEwan's Atonement. That was when Katniss started going on and on about Prim being dead. It dawned on me that Prim had been dead a long time, that in the first book Katniss never volunteered and that Prim was executed in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games and that everything that had happened since had been in the mind of Katniss who was trying to come to grips with the whole thing. It explained why she suddenly had a psychologist who hadn't made any appearances until the last fifty pages of the book. Of course such an ending would've been disappointing and confusing for many of the series' less creative readers, but it would've sparked conversation and it would've been immensely better than ending it with this mush. It just sort of falls apart.

It's impossible not to read Mockingjay if you've been pulled in by the other books. But I think for me it would be better not to have read it. In the final one hundred pages of this final book, the whole series went from a guilty pleasure to a waste of my time. I sort of wish I'd have just watched the movies. And hopefully, by the time the filmmakers get around to Mockingjay they'll figure out some way to get this train wreck back on track without anyone losing face.

I loved the way I finally caught on to some of the things Collins was doing besides the mirroring of Peta & Gale. Snow & Prim and Kat & Buttercup. I just wish there had been a little more in the way of confirmation after the assassination. The bottom line, though, is that I really want to see what Collins does next.

I liked the conclusion, especially the drawn out recovery. Not much else to say except that I am eager to see what else S. Collins comes out with.

So this wasn't my favorite. I do, however, like the ending of the trilogy with respect to the plot arc across the books. Jacob pointed out that Collins, like Rowling in the later Harry Potter books, excels at writing with the voice of a sullen teenager. That's a great quality in a YA writer, obviously, but it left me spending a lot of this book waiting for Katniss to...grow up. And then she did, just a little too quickly in a somewhat rushed denouement. Still, I'd recommend the series to anyone looking to become obsessed with the outcomes in a fictional world for a few days/weeks, or wanting to dive right into some pop culture without regretting it later.

Like Catching Fire and The Hunger Games before it, it's an enjoyable, quick-paced, easy read. It doesn't quite end up how I had anticipated and Katniss is particularly whiny/mopey for a good majority of the book (which I fine off-putting) but it does have plenty of action and excitement as well.

This was definitely my favorite of the series. I'm no fan of young adult fiction, so a small part of me dies by admitting this, but this is one of the best representations of how unglamorous and brutal revolutions can be. There's no clear right and wrong and the war is won not in the streets, but through the media. The plot meanders at times and the end falls apart completely. But it's ok, cause the meat of this book is the first half when the never-quite-made-points in the first 2 books about media culture come to fruition.

Peeta is just as creepy as ever, but it's intentional this time and he's gone for long portions of the book, so it's ok.

Yes, please, suck the life out of a decent book series and ramble for close to 400 pages. That's exactly what I want to read in my free time.

There were a few things that resembled what I originally liked about the series. There were some great emotional moments. Haymitch, who is officially my favorite character, was at his acidic yet fatherly best. Other than that, though, there was nothing enjoyable about this book. The sense of urgency and peril from the previous books was gone because the snappy pacing was replaced with aimless mood swings. The short, curt sentences which worked great for a quick moving, straightforward story line, became awkward under the weight of Katniss' angst and the roundabout political machinations of the people around her.

There's no real driving motivation, no focus. The rebellion is something that's separate from Katniss, that she has no control over and questions the morality of, and her personal goal of killing Snow seems distant for the fact that, unlike with Catching Fire, the two of them have no relationship or contact. Not to mention, it becomes clear as the story goes that its not going to happen, and even if it did, thanks to Katniss' refusal to accept her own innate moral ambiguity, it would not be satisfying.

Katniss is a shell of the character she once was. She sees the world for the most part through a fog, and as such, so does the reader. Time and actions pass in paragraphs full of fuzzy descriptions and Katniss' own self hatred. In the last fifty pages or so there were countless moments where I thought, “Ok, you can end it now,” where there might have been something quick and clever about the end of Katniss' bleak and meandering story, but it kept going. And honestly, she should've died after she killed Coin. It would have made her purpose in the story much more clear, and things could've been wrapped up in an epilogue from someone else's point of view, which I was kind of craving the whole time.

All this makes it sound like I care a lot more about how bad this was, but I really don't. That was the big problem, Mockingjay invoked very little emotion or passion or interest. I felt the way Katniss felt through most the story - tired. I could probably write a couple more paragraphs of how the idea of District 13 surviving so long completely independently is kind of ridiculous, and also where the fuck is the rest of the world, in what universe does a civil war break out and other nations don't try to get involved? But it's really not worth the spoons.

Also. I'm getting really bored with this heteronormative, relationship and baby focused story telling, where there is no conclusion unless we know who the main character married, that their legacy or imprint on the world doesn't count unless its in the form of biological offspring. Nevermind the fact that in this case it felt totally slapped on, because it was apparently so important that we know that despite a whole book of barely being able to look at each other, eventually they figured it out and got with the babymaking, even if it means summing it up in one or two paragraphs. Ugh.

So. Yeah. This was extremely disappointing. The main thing that was getting me through was imagining Haymitch played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (I like Woody Harrelson, don't get me wrong, but what the fuck is with that hair?). On the plus side, this story will probably work a lot better as a movie, unless they decide to include a voice over of Katniss' whining during the battle scenes.

This book deserves high praise just for how novel it is - I have never seen an ostensibly young adult book explore such abstract concepts, such as the sacrifices that the “good guys” make for victory. I found the role that Katniss was cast in and the tension between the role she had to perform and her own goals and personality particularly compelling. The use of media and “spin” by both sides was done in a very subtle, well-handled way.

I continue to object to Collins' writing style - her word choice and her decision to very explicitly explain concepts as she goes along both play to a much more juvenile audience than the audience who would be able to appreciate the concepts in the Hunger Games anyway, so I am not sure why that choice was made.

I didn't care about the outcome of this book until the last 20 pages.

I felt obligated to finish this book because I love Katniss as a character. I wanted to know what happened between her and Peeta. I wanted to know how Gale took the change. But other than that, this book was boring and hard to get through.

Unlike the first two books of the series, there is very little action. Katniss herself spends much of the book in an apathetic stupor and it's hard not to join her. The war between the Districts and the Capital could have been a very interesting backdrop to the main story of how Katniss recovers from the Quarter Quell, but it flounders and flops. Instead of energizing the readers, Katniss seems too tired and bored to do much of anything.

When she is acting as the Mockingjay, think Joan of Arc without the nasty burning at the stake, she finally regains her strength of will and mind. She becomes the character I fell in love with in the Arena. But that doesn't happen until well into the book, and even then the scenes are short-lived and staged.

But, I continued reading because if there is one thing Collins can do well (and there are many) it's the cliffhanger. Just as I was about to give up on the book completely, she would throw some twist in the last sentence. Granted, the twists were not really that surprising, but they were enough to keep me reading.

And then I hit the last chapters.

Finally, Collins and Katniss hit their strides. Katniss-the-badass returns at full speed and Collins' mastery of story makes it impossible to put down. Too bad the first 370 pages were so meh.

So, I give Mockingjay only three stars because it must be hard to maintain the sheer amazingness of the first two books, and Mockingjay fails. But, it's still a good ending to the series.

I'm not sure how much I liked this one, even reflecting on it months later. There was a lot that I liked: the depiction of the PTSD of the Games' survivors, and the different ways that it manifested themselves. The fact that Collins was willing to present the Resistance as nearly as bad as Snow and the Capitol. The action scenes, which again are expertly and entertainingly written.

At the same time, I hate the love triangle that sprang up, especially since I saw Katniss and Gale's relationship as filial, rather than romantic, in the first book. I hate that Katniss becomes little more than a figurehead, a bauble for the revolution - exactly what Snow had wanted her to be for the Capitol. She escapes that by the end, but the fact that she's reduced to that was difficult to read.

Still, it's a strong book, and a good, logical end to the series.