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The Bookish Owl – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Today we’re closing off the Hunger Games saga with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

I have a lot of mixed feeling about this book. It was either a brilliant commentary on the nature of tyrannical regimes and revolutions… or simply the most pointless ending to a trilogy ever.

Either way, I cried. A lot.

Spoilers ahead.

This book got shockingly personal for me, so I’m just going to give you a little backstory: My older brother died in a traffic accident when I was 10, him 14. At that time, my family had a cat named Chaos, who loved my brother and didn’t want anything to do with the rest of us. Chaos kept up this attitude for some time after my brother’s death, but eventually she would let me pet her as long as I was sitting in my brother’s old room.

So this is why I managed to keep it together pretty well through Prim’s death, and even through Katniss subsequent grief… and then absolutely lost it at the scene where Katniss bonds with Prim’s cat over their loss. My brother died 17 years ago, and I don’t usually get emotional about it anymore, but this apparently hit a nerve. Plus, Chaos lived a long life and I grew to love that cat as well, and it was a blow when she died 2 years ago.

Sorry this got so personal! But I really felt you needed to know the details to understand why I bawled my eyes out, not over a character’s tragic death, but over a scene with a grumpy cat.

But back to my mixed feelings on this ending: Katniss’s entire character arc, which ignites an entire revolution,  is kicked off by her desire to save her little sister’s life. So killing off Primrose in the final book makes it all seem like it was pointless.

Which is why the ending could either be seen as terrible or genius. Because while it left me as a reader feeling unsatisfied, it makes a lot of sense to make the whole revolution story seem like it doesn’t matter. Because, unfortunately, that’s the case with most revolutions. They always cause a lot of blood to be spilled and atrocities to be committed, but things rarely ever get better. Most of the time – like hinted is also the case in the book – the people just replace one tyrant with another.

So yeah… Lot of feelings about this book. But do enjoy Artemis accidentally trying to copy the pose from the cover!


Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins

“My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.”

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Though she’s long been a part of the revolution, Katniss hasn’t known it. Now it seems that everyone has had a hand in the carefully laid plans but her.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay – no matter what the cost.


Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

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The Bookish Owl – Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I’m still playing catch up with these, so here you have Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

This was a great follow-up to The Hunger Games. It was fast-paced and filled with conspiracies, which is right up my alley.

That’s all, really. I’ll keep my ranting commentary for when I get to my Mockingjay post… because what the f—.


Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins

SPARKS ARE IGNITING.
FLAMES ARE SPREADING.
AND THE CAPITAL WANTS REVENGE.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. Katniss is about to be tested as never before.


Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

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The Bookish Owl – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

I know it’s been a while, but I’m back with new Bookish Owl posts, and today’s book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins!

I’m so sorry for being absent lately and not keeping up with replying to comments or staying in touch with my blogger friends. It’s just been crazy lately (you might have noticed I recently published a new book), and it’s been all I could do just to remember to do basic things such as eating…

I hope you haven’t all given up on me!

But seeing as I’m 18 books behind, I better get on with the book stuff. As mentioned above, the featured book in this post is ‘The Hunger Games’. I first read this many years ago and while I remember liking it well enough, it didn’t really drive me to rush out to get the next book in the series, and in the end I never got around to it at all. However, after rereading it, I absolutely loved it!

I think the reason I didn’t really love it the first time around was because I found it a bit far-fetched. But now, after America got a reality star who have dick competitions with dictators as President, somehow I can TOTALLY imagine a government turning kids into celebrities before throwing them into an arena to kill each other.

It’s a slightly depressing reason for changing your mind about a book, isn’t it…?


The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

WINNING MEANS FAME AND FORTUNE.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.
THE HUNGER GAMES HAVE BEGUN. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and once girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.


The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins