Mockingjay is a 2010 young-adult science fiction novel by Suzanne Collins, and the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Here, Katniss has become the face of the rebellion’s propaganda campaign.
Mockingjay is
often grimmer than the previous books, and Collins makes a couple of somewhat bold
plot decisions (for the YA genre). However, while Collins knows how to keep the
reader turning the pages, the story itself often lacks focus. Much of the book
features Katniss involved in events of only peripheral importance, and a number
of important story elements are not well developed, even if they are resolved
satisfactorily.
In Mockingjay,
Collins attempts to draw a contrast between Gale’s embrace of no-holds-barred
warfare and Katniss’s reservations. Yet her attitude is inconsistent with her
actions in all three books, and it rings distinctly false.
In the context of street warfare, the Capitol’s Games-style
booby traps feel silly and impractical. And the book’s ending, in addition to
fizzling abruptly, feels somewhat contrived and arbitrary. A very deliberate
suspension of belief is required in a number of places.
Collins finally gives Katniss some substantial emotional reflection
and explores just how damaged she is. However, this self-examination is
focused on what Katniss has lost and almost completely ignores what she has done,
which may make the reader feel that Katniss has not learned anything (especially
the messages Collins seems to be trying to present to the reader) nor evolved substantially as a character. But Collins lowered the bar for herself in this regard in the previous books, and it’s better than nothing.
In the end, Mockingjay
is an under-developed but reasonably entertaining and generally satisfying
conclusion to the series, held back by the telling rather than the story.
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