Mockingjay

Goodreads Synopsis:   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. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

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 personal cost.

My Thoughts:

-    Even though we don't see a lot of Prim in the first 2 books, most people feel a lot of love and compassion towards her.  I think this is due to the connection that the audience has with Katniss.  She cares so much about Prim, that the reader will automatically feel protective of her too.  I enjoyed the few instances in Mockingjay where we got to interact with Prim.

-    Collin's writing style is so easy to read and get caught up in.  Everything just flows so naturally, and I don't even notice I'm reading.  

-    I cried at the end of Chapter 11 and during the last few chapters.

-    Justice was served to everyone that deserved it!!!!

-    I know a lot of people weren't happy about the darkness and sadness of the last book, but I thought it was necessary.  There really wasn't any other way to end the trilogy.  There had to be a huge war.  Katniss was hysterical and lost for a lot of it, but in reality, people who have seen the horrors that she has act this way.  People who go through terrible things have post traumatic stress disorder, and I think the author captured this in Katniss very well.  

Catching Fire

Goodreads Synopsis:    Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge. 

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. 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 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.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

My Thoughts:

-    Peeta is almost the perfect man.  The way he always steps in to compensate for Katniss's lack of words or deeds, is amazing!  I totally agree with Haymitch when he says Katniss couldn't do any worse and that she doesn't really deserve someone so good.  

-    Even though this is the second time I'm reading this, it is still gripping and full of surprises.  

-    I wonder what is happening outside the arena.  I would love a companion book where we get to see Haymitch's perspective.  How do the mentors all watch and get sponsors and send things to the tributes?  

-    This is by far the worst cliffhanger ending ever!!!!!  

-    I'm never going to be able to think a rose smells good.  I hate President Snow that much!

-    The Hunger Games was mostly action and thrill, but Catching Fire is more emotional for me.  I go through so many different emotions when I read this:  sadness, anger, lots of anger, hope, shock, distress, etc.  It is so moving!

-    Haymitch you JERK!!

The Hunger Games

Goodreads Synopsis:  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 one 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, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, 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 will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My Thoughts:

Keep in mind that this is the second time I've read this amazing book.  I'm going to the midnight showing of the movie, and I wanted everything to be fresh in my mind.  This might destroy the movie for me, but I'm willing to take that chance.  

-    This is one of my favorite Dystopian novels!  I love the fast pace and dying urge to know what happens next!!  This book captured my FULL attention from the get go!

-    I hate the Capitol!!!  

-    The first time I read through the trilogy,  I didn't want Katniss to end up with anyone.  After all she had been through, how could she?  This time through though, I was a total Peeta fan!  The more and more I read, the more I realized how much Katniss actually needs Peeta.  With her survival instincts, the chaos surrounding her, and the completely lost feeling she has sometimes, she really needs Peeta by her side to help her and steady her!

-   This book has everything for everyone.  It is pact full of action, suspense, romance, bloodshed, a wide range of emotions, etc.  It is awesome!

-    I love all the characters.  I feel for them, and I love the depth of their personalities.  Characters make or break a book.  The Hunger Games has some of my favorite people in all of literature.  Besides the main characters, the one that really gets me in this book is Rue.  I feel so much emotion towards that little girl!