Mockingjay

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Oh my.  This one is a long time coming for sure.  After my obsession with Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins last year I just could not wait for Mockingjay.  So on the day it came out I rushed out before work and bought it (even though I couldn't read a word of it until after work).  And guess what?  I was NOT disappointed people!!  I may be one of the rare readers that didn't have a problem with this book at all!  I thought that every thing that happened needed to happen.  Every death, every match made, every battle, every thing.  I was shocked in the appropriate places, outraged in the correct spots, and at the edge of my seat during the right parts.  Now saying all that; Mockingjay was not my favorite book of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  I liked them in the order they were released for sure.  I felt like Hunger Games even though it was politically charged it was pure adventure and action.  Catching Fire again was full of adventure and action but it dealt with even heavier issues than the first book.  Now with Mockingjay it is complete and total political propaganda and the characters seem a little jaded and lost (but that is what makes the book feel so real), if you were going though what these young people were going though you would not be yourself anymore either.  Don't get me wrong, there is enough action and adventure in Mockingjay to go around, it is just deeper and a little more mature than the other two books.


I am going to write this synopsis with out any spoilers to Mockingjay but be warned that there is going to have to be some spoilers from the first two installments (don't say I didn't warn you, and if you haven't read any of the trilogy I would recommend you turn back now and go get the books).  Anyway, in Mockingjay you are brought back to Panem after Katniss has been rescued from her second time in the arena by the survivors of district 13.  She is kind of an empty shell of the Katniss we know but who can blame her.  Peeta has been taken by the Capitol, and her District has been blown to smithereens and she is just totally lost and doesn't know who to trust.  The Districts are in full scale rebellion now, and the Capitol is losing it's foot hold of power.  District 13 know that the rebellion needs a leader or "mascot" and of course Katniss is the obvious choice.  And because Katniss now has a death wish and just doesn't care anymore she decides to become the Mockingjay, the face of the rebellion.  Something I thought was interesting was that Collins opted to not tie everything up in a pretty little bow.  She left a few strands and she left some messy strands, but in a situation like this one you can't have everything hunky dory on the end.

I have read a lot of reviews about Mockingjay and most of them have something negative to say about Katniss's character in this book.  She isn't the go getter she was in the first two books, but after the beat down she has received in the first two stories you can't really blame her, after all she is only 17 years old, and has already spent 2 years fighting for her life, and the 5 years before keeping her family alive.  When I read books like Twilight and Hunger Games I have to remind myself that the characters are teenagers, so their fickleness and their feelings, and their drama, and selfcenteredness come with the hormonal territory.  When you think of it like that you start to like the characters a little  more.

I am sad to see this series come to an end but I am glad that Collins didn't drag it out to the point of annoyingness to make a few more dollars.  She kept it to the point and a perfect length in my opinion.  I am anxious to see what the movie will be like next  year and that they cast it correctly.  I'm up for the job if Lionsgate wants me!!

Rating: 5 Stars

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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
{Purchased at Target}
ISBN 0439023513
Pages 400

If you liked Mockingjay then you need to read: Tomorrow when the War Began by John Marsden

Catching Fire

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Oh.  My.  Gosh.  If Suzanne Collins was sitting next to me right now I would give her a big ol' kiss on the lips!!!  Not only did she hit it out of the park with Hunger Games but then she out did her self with this little gem.  I was so excited to see what was going on with Katniss and Peeta that I feel like I flew through this book and really didn't have time to digest it.  I even had to go back and skim back through chapters to pick up some details that I flew past the first time on my anxious pursuit to see what was going to happen next!

In this second installment of Suzanne Collins Hunger Game trilogy we start out back in District 12 after Katniss and Peeta have survived the Hunger Games.  After they come back home and readjust to life in District 12 they have to head out on their mandatory winners tour of the districts, unfortunately President Snow is oh-so-angry about their little rebellious move in the Hunger Games arena and he is out to make an example out of Katniss and Peeta.  With rebellion rumors bubbling up in the some of the districts and the "Quarter Quell" just around the corner, we are right back in the thick of things with Katniss and Peeta.  You don't really know what is going on until about page 175 but when you get there you are like OH MY GOSH, HOLY MOLY, I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED, WHAT THE HECK!!!!!

I think that this book may even top the Hunger Games if you can believe it!  I LOVED the ride that Suzanne Collins took me on with this one.  The only 2 things I can complain about is that I can't wait a whole year for the final story to be told and I still don't know if I am Team Peeta or Team Gale!!

Book vs. Movie:  Yes please!  Hurry!!

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins
ISBN-13: 9780439023498


If you liked this book please read: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale - Book Club Read

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So this evening I finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.  I have read this book before but I suppose I had forgotten the details because I felt like I was reading it for the first time.  I could only sort of remember what was going to happen next so when the story unfolded it was like reading it anew!  I had to read this one for my book club and I am sure that it will encourage a lot of discussion because of the controversial nature of this story (I will post the outcome of the discussion next week after our meeting).  I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Margaret Atwood.  I feel that she is a very important writer in literary history and I went through a time when I owned all her novels (even her collections of short stories) but I started to really dislike her writing style after reading about 6 or so of her novels.  Sometimes she would capture my attention and her writing (The Blind Assassin)was organized and easy to read and other times I felt she rambled and there was no point to the story she was trying to tell (The Robber Bride).  The Handmaid's Tale was one of the stories that I could fallow without boredom and while the ending isn't really satisfying, the story as a whole does make sense.

In The Handmaid's Tale we are introduced to a society that has taken hold after the fall of The United States.  A new government takes power and they are totally and staunchly biblically based.  Women loose all their rights including the right to read the written word, and they are kept as possessions of the men either as Wives, Handmaids (birthing machines), or Marthas (servants).  This book is the story of one Handmaid named Offred (a name given to her meaning possession Of Fred), it is told from her point of view, and it is the story of her life as a first generation Handmaid in the new land of Gilead.  Because she is a first generation Handmaid she remembers life as it was before the fall of the U.S. so it makes it much harder for her to adjust to her new life as a Handmaid her "Commanders" house.

I remember enjoying this book a lot when I read it the first time and I feel the same about it now.  It really is interesting to see a glimpse into society once life as we know it is over. Could these things really happen?  Would we as a society let them?  Maybe stories like The Hunger Games, The Handmaids Tale, and The Giver are a warning to us all.

Book vs. Movie:  There is a movie version of The Handmaid's Tale but judging by the pictures I have seen online it looks like a movie I am going to miss.  It was made in the early 90s and it doesn't look too promising.  If someone were to make a newer version of this movie I would absolutely go see it, just for a more visual idea of what Gilead and the Handmaid's looked like.  There is also an Opera about The Handmaid's Tale and I think that would be very interesting!

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
ISBN: 978-0-385-49081-8


If you liked this book than read:  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games

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Wow. I truly enjoyed every page of this book. When I wasn't reading it I was starving for what was going to happen next (I was lucky that I had some air plane traveling to do this week so I could read to keep my mind off the flying part). I have always enjoyed stories about what life is like after society as we know it collapses and this one was THE BEST I have read with that post apocalyptic theme. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a YA book because the story was pretty heavy with a lot of political undertones and a lot of propaganda.

In this story we see what life is like after the United States has collapsed and a new society, Panem, has taken hold. Once a year every boy and girl between the ages of 12 to 18 are put into a lottery and one unlucky boy and one unlucky girl are chosen from each district (12 districts in all). Then these 24 teens are thrown into a huge arena where they fight to the death. The citizens of Panem are required to watch the fight on TV each night in sort of "reality TV" show fashion, and they bet on who will win and who will die. All the while the players have to watch their backs, stay alive, and charm the audience so they can recieve sponsors that can buy them things that will keep them alive in the arena. In the end the winner will receive riches and fame beyond anything they can comprehend considering that most people live in poverty in this new communistic society. The story follows the two teens chosen from District 12, Katniss and Peeta, and how they try and survive their time in the arena, knowing in the end there can only be one winner of The Hunger Games.

I really couldn't put this book down. I just ate up every word. I feel like I want to read it over right away to see if there is anything I missed. I think the concept of The Hunger Games is so imaginative and I feel like we aren't too far from a society that would find this kind of "entertainment" amusing. There are a few points in the book where I had tears in my eyes and a few times that I was outright shocked that people could be so gruesome to each other; but the whole time I was cheering on my favorite contestants of The Hunger Games, just like the country of Panem was doing. I just can't wait to get my hands on the next book in this series Catching Fire. I hope I'm not disappointed, but I can't imagine that it could be any better than this one.  Cheers to Suzanne Collins for penning such a magnificent story!

P.S. This would make an EXCELLENT movie, and it sounds like we won’t have to wait that long as Lionsgate has picked up distributing rights!!

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

If you liked this book also read:  The Giver by Lois Lowry