By Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Favorite quote: “What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”
Mockingjay picks up after the oh-so-dramatic “There is no District 12” ending of Catching Fire. Katniss has been rescued from the arena of the Quarter Quell and taken to District 13, which has become the headquarters of a long-awaited rebellion. As the Mockingjay, the symbol of hope for the downtrodden people of the districts, Katniss must agree to make herself the face of the revolution. But she doesn’t even know if she wants a revolution. Her only home has been destroyed, Peeta is at the mercy of the Capitol, and Katniss is sick and tired of always being a player in someone else’s games. The only thing she really wants is revenge on President Snow, and she will stop at nothing to destroy him…
Mockingjay is definitely different from the first two books. It is decidedly more political, and a lot of the plot focuses on war strategy, which frankly isn’t that interesting (in my opinion!). It’s also way more emotional than the rest of the series, and is honestly pretty depressing; half of the book is Katniss having a breakdown. The most noticeable difference is the much slower pacing, but this was important because it provided time to develop the ideas of the story. I felt like the writing was improved in this installment too; the central themes of the series- violence is not the answer, morality isn’t always black and white, bad things happen to good people, etc. – really shone through as a result of the slower pacing. There was even some symbolism. Overall, I found this book to be more mature than the other two; it was focused less on action and more on reflection. When I saw there was an epilogue, I assumed it would be a Harry Potter-esque happy ending where everyone gets married and lives happily ever after. But it wasn’t. This wasn’t the kind of series ending that wraps everything up in a nice neat bow; Katniss never really gets over everything that happens to her. But although it was melancholy, the ending was so so good! I actually think it was the perfect ending for the series. The worst thing about reading a series 10 years late is that you can’t discuss it with anyone…
Frappes and Fiction 
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