Mockingjay by Suzanna Collins

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

I had expectations for Mockingjay. I'd thought about theories, and even made up some fake, funny ones with people on Twitter. Nothing prepared me for this book. It feels different from the first two in the series. Not bad, just different. There's a war going on. Bad things happen in war. Heidi Kling (author of SEA) said, "Forget Team Peeta/Team Gale. By the end of this book you are only Team Humanity."
I can't agree more. For months fans have been speculating about who Katniss will choose. But honestly, in light of present circumstances, it doesn't matter. This book explores themes of war, the meaning of right and wrong/good and evil, and shows that every decision we make has a consequence. If you liked The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, you won't be disappointed. This book has lived up to its hype, and is now probably my favorite read this year. I believe that everyone should read the previous two books just to get the the masterpiece that is Mockingjay.

5/5

Catching Fire Reread

I'm rereading Catching Fire very quickly, so I most likely won't be doing a recap of it on here. Maybe a really super condensed quick one when I'm done, but definitely not a chapter-by-chapter recap like I did with The Hunger Games.
To (kinda) make up for it, here's Suzanne Collins reading the first chapter of Mockingjay!

Guys and Books

Let's have a little chat, ok?

I know the majority of YA readers are female. I know there are a lot of guys that don't read for whatever reasons. The argument has been made that YA books aren't marketed to boys, and I can see that. Just take a walk down the YA section at any bookstore. What do you see? Covers colored in purple and pink, covers with girls on the front, etc. Books that a lot of guys wouldn't be caught dead reading in school. Something needs to be done about that, but that's not the main reason for this post.
I was looking around the blogosphere, and I saw something that made me stop. There was a teen guy giving short review of a book. He liked said book, but advised other boys to speed read through romantic scenes to get to the "good" parts. I know girls have a different mentality toward romance and love than guys do, but in the end, aren't we all human? Don't we all fall in love, and feel warm and fuzzy feelings? If you prick us, do we not all bleed? Sorry, went one too far.
Is there a reason that boys are so anti-romance? I get it if it's a book where romance is the main issue, and it talked about constantly (I'm looking at you Twilight). The thing is, this book wasn't one of those. The romance is there, but it's not presented in an overly "lovey-dovey" way. I honestly have never had a problem reading about romance and love, so I don't get what the big deal is. Can anyone explain it to me? I'd love to hear your thoughts, opinions, experiences in the comments.

The Hunger Games Recap: Chapters 25 - 27

Chapter 25

The creatures are giant wolves that act human. They chase the three tributes to the Cornucopia, which they climb. Katniss picks a few of them off with her bow, then realizes something. The wolves look like the dead tributes. There's even one that looks like Rue. Once bites Peeta, but Katniss kills it. Cato tries to kill Peeta in the confusion, but Katniss shoots him as well, sending him into the pack of wolves. They begin to tear him apart. They torture him all night, and Katniss and Peeta are forced to listen to him scream in pain. In the morning, Katniss decides to put Cato out of his misery. The wolves go away, and Katniss and Peeta make their way back to the lake, waiting for the games to be over. Then an announcement: only one person can win the games, not two.

This is how angry I was.

Katniss decides that they should both kill themselves with the poison berries. They put them in their mouths, and the announcer comes back, saying that they both win!

Chapter 26

They both get into a hovercraft, where doctors tend to them. Katniss is put into a drug-induced coma for a while. When she finally wakes up, she is styled and costumed for the closing ceremonies. There, she will see Peeta for the first time since the games. Haymitch tells Katniss that the Capitol is furious that they "beat the system", so she should be careful.

Chapter 27

Katniss and Peeta reunite on stage, and are then forced to watch a three hour highlight of the Games. They go to a party, and the next day have an interview. While there, Katniss discovers that Peeta now has an artificial leg. =/
They go back home, but on the way, Katniss reveals to Peeta that some of her affections during the Games were just an act. Peeta is understandably upset. They arrive home.

The End

The Hunger Games Recap: Chapters 22 - 24

Chapter 22

It's raining outside when Katniss wakes up, and Peeta is better. He's been taking care of her. They're stuck, and since they have nothing better to do, they talk. And kiss. Katniss realizes that the more they play on the star crossed lovers angle, the happier Haymitch will be, so she does it. She finally (kind of) tells Peeta that she loves him, and Haymitch sends them a feast. Peeta is thrilled, both for the food and the declaration of love.

Peeta

Chapter 23

More cave time. The tribute that saved Katniss is killed, leaving 2 tributes left (not counting Katniss and Peeta). The rain stops and they go hunting. Peeta is loud, so Katniss sends him to gather berries and roots and stuff. When she comes back with food, she sees that some of their cheese and berries have disappeared. Peeta didn't eat them, so where did they go? Suddenly, they hear a cannon, and a body is taken away not far from them. Katniss realizes that the berries Peeta gathered are poison, and the other tribute must have stolen and eaten them.

Chapter 24

Katniss saves some berries just in case they can trick the last tribute left (Cato) into eating them. They go back to the cave and sleep. When they are both rested, they decide to leave. The streams and ponds are dried up, so they make their way to the lake. When they reach the clearing, Cato runs toward them. Katniss shoots him with an arrow, but it just bounces off of him. Instead of running for them, he runs past them. Then they notice he's running from something.

The Hunger Games Recap: Chapters 19 - 21

Chapter 19

Katniss decides to look for Peeta so that they can team up. She's walking through the forest when she spots a trail of blood. She follows it to a stream, then hears Peeta's voice. He camouflaged himself in the riverbank so he wouldn't be seen. Katniss helps him up and sees that he is badly injured from tracker jacker stings, burns, and a nasty gash in his leg. She begins taking off his clothes and tending to his wounds. His leg is in very bad shape. Katniss moves them to a cave, and Peeta is talking about dying, so Katniss kisses him to shut him up. Haymitch sends broth.

Chapter 20

They hide out in the cave, and get close. Katniss realizes Peeta has an infection. To get his mind off of things, she tells him a story. An announcement comes through saying that at dawn, there will be something each person needs at the Cornucopia. Peeta tells Katniss if she goes, he'll just follow. She says she won't. Haymitch sends Katniss sleeping syrup, and she sneakily drugs Peeta so he will not follow her.

Chapter 21

Katniss leaves just before dawn to get the backpack she needs. As she runs for the bag, a tribute grabs her and immobilizes her. Then she starts cutting Katniss' face. The other tribute from Rue's district grabs her from behind and kills her. He lets Katniss go because of the kindness she showed Rue. Katniss goes back to the cave, opens backpack and sees a syringe inside. She gives the shot to Peeta, then passes out.

The Hunger Games Recap: Chapters 16 - 18

Chapter 16

The plan: take out the career tributes' food supply. Rue knows where they've stockpiled it. Katniss leaves for the camp while Rue creates a diversion. She reaches the camp and is about to go toward it when another tribute comes out of the forest. She hops and jumps across the ground to the food, grabs some, and navigates her way back. Then Katniss realizes that the ground around the food is booby trapped. They dug up the mines from around the starting disks and buried them around the food supply. With her arrows, she takes aim and shoots at a hanging bag of apples above the mines. It rips, and apples fall onto the ground. Then BOOM.

Chapter 17

Katniss is blown back from the explosion, and her ear is damaged. It is impossible for her to stand, so she crawls to a hiding spot. She sleeps, and begins to make her way back to Rue. She hears her scream and runs toward the noise. Rue calls for Katniss, and Katniss finally reaches the clearing where Rue is. She's tangled in a net, and a tribute standing beside her thrusts a spear into her side.

Chapter 18

The boy is killed by Katniss before he can move. Katniss cuts Rue down, and both know that Rue is dying. Katniss says that she'll win now, for the both of them. Rue asks Katniss to sing her a song, and as she's singing, Rue dies.

Katniss covers her body in flowers, and makes her way back. She moves her way through the woods and climbs into a tree to sleep. The anthem plays, then trumpets sound announcing a message.
Two tributes can win this year, as long as they're both from the same district.