Book Review: Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins

Within minutes of finishing Catching Fire I grabbed my copy of Mockingjay eager for more. However, I’m sorry to say that I was bitterly disappointed by the final novel in The Hunger Games trilogy. I’m a sucker for a good love story so after Catching Fire I was looking for many more romantic moments leading up to the end of Mockingjay, but I did not find them.

Instead I was presented with a story miles away from its two predecessors. The atmosphere was completely different with characters separated and all over the place as well as numerous new additions. Some people see this book as a brilliant ending to the series, but for some reason, I just don’t see it that way and after reading this book my Hunger Games high has most certainly been subdued.

This books kicks off straight after Katniss has been removed from the Arena of the Quarter Quell by a mysterious hovercraft. She wakes up to find herself amongst a group of rebels taking her to District 13 where it turns out there is still a thriving and rebellious population despite the fact that the Capitol has claimed for years that the old District is deserted. It is on the hovercraft that Katniss realises that Peeta hasn’t been rescued from the Arena as she was, but instead he has been captured by the Capitol.

Katniss attempts to recover from the heavy injuries she sustained during the Quarter Quell whilst fearing for Peeta’s life. After swearing to keep him safe and bring him home alive after the Quarter Quell, Katniss is desperate for news of Peeta – her supposed fiancee and father of her ‘child’ – and is also furious with Haymitch for double crossing her. In this book we see the fight of the rebels against the Capitol play out

One thing I do have to give credit to Suzanne Collins for is surprise. I could not have been more shocked at the way that the events played out in this novel and it was absolutely  unpredictable. This book really reinforced my view that it’s not just the ending that matters, but how you get there, and I wasn’t very pleased at all about how this book played out.

All the characters go through dramatic personality changes which altered everything that had been set out by events in the previous books. Whilst there were many moments that filled with me much emotion and even left me with a few tears streaming down my face, the predominant emotion I was feeling after I’d finished was frustration. I didn’t feel like my hunger (excuse the pun) for The Hunger Games had been satisfied and I needed more. I’m sorry I can’t say more, but I don’t feel that I can express exactly why I am so dissatisfied without revealing what exactly the plot line is.

For me, this was definitely the worst book out of all three in this series and the ending really let me down. I was incredibly frustrated for a couple of days and then I discovered The Hunger Games fan fiction, which really has been the only thing to stop me from killing myself after the s*** ending to this series. For those of you who haven’t yet read Mockingjay, I’d almost suggest that you just don’t, because it almost ruined my love for this series, but then again, I can’t imagine any true fan only reading two out of the three books.

Some of my friends disagree with me, but there are also many who agree with my point of view. I’ve read reviews about how brilliant and about how disappointing this book is so I suppose this is a love/hate novel and it really will be up to the reader to decide. Despite the less than satisfactory end, this is still my all-time favourite series after Harry Potter and I highly recommend to it boys, girls and adults for a captivating read.

Buy Mockingjay

Check out my other reviews of The Hunger Games series:
Book review: The Hunger Games
Book review: Catching Fire
Books Like The Hunger Games
Film review: The Hunger Games
Film review: Catching Fire

Laura

Founder & Editor of What’s Hot?

Laura is an award-winning travel and book blogger based in the UK. She studied French literature at Oxford University and is now an IP lawyer at a top law firm in London. She was named UK Book Blogger of the Year in 2019 and loves to combine her passion for books and travel with literary travel.