Saturday, April 9, 2011

Book Review: Mockingjay

I found Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to be a very different book from the first two novels in The Hunger Games Trilogy.

The critical difference was Peeta wasn't in the first half of the novel. Peeta and Katniss great relationship that Suzanne Collins created is what kept me addicted to the first two novels (along with the great chapter cliffhangers). Unfortunately, Katniss' relationship with the other principal characters, Gale, Coin, Haymitch, Finnick, etc., couldn't keep me engaged in the first half of the novel. Considering Katniss kept saying she felt out of it or disconnected, so did I as a reader. My son gave up after 50 pages. I almost gave up after 100.

Once Peeta played a more prominent role in the novel, the energy returned and I finished the rest in two days.

But I was very disappointed by how bleak, dark, and violent it became. I'm not sure how Mockingjay can be considered a teen novel. The violence really did get horrific.

It shows the worst in people and instead of not knowing who to root for, I was begging for at least one positive thing to happen in the book--anything.

I really enjoyed the first two books in the series, but the third was too dark for me.