Title: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: August, 2010 by Scholastic
Pages: 455
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

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 plans — 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.

Final Thoughts:
This book made me cry. I didn’t think I would, but then, there was one scene near the end that just broke me. Lying in bed with tears in my eyes, I had a new respect for Suzanne Collins’ writing. She really gave it everything in this book and made me care about so many of the side characters. I just couldn’t stop reading. Building up throughout the series, this book brought it all to a close in such a way that left you satisfied, yet still riveted. I just want the third movie to be out already and I haven’t even seen the second yet.

Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September, 2009 by Scholastic
Pages: 472
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta return to their district, hoping for a peaceful future. But their victory has caused rebellion to break out … and the Capitol has decided that someone must pay. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol’s Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless they can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

Final Thoughts:
Yes, I’m way behind the times on these books, I know. The impending release of the second movie finally got me moving and back into this series. Having just finished it an hour ago, I can’t believe I waited so long. I’ve already grabbed out Mockingjay so I can continue straight into the finale. This book threw me upside down. I thought we’d be left plodding along through the second book, basically bridging the gap in the trilogy, but I was completely wrong. Personally, I think loved this one more than the first.

Title: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: October, 2008 by Scholastic
Pages: 454
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

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, 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.

Final Thoughts:
I tried listening to the audiobook at the start of 2011, but I only made it six chapters in before I gave up. The narrator was so off-putting, that I just couldn’t get into the story. Fast forward a year later, with only a few weeks to go before the movie’s release date, I picked up the paperback and decided to start back at the beginning. I fell in love with this book, as simple as that. Reading, as opposed to listening, made so much of a difference to my level of enjoyment. As for the story, I never had any of those moments where you’re left shaking your head at the pages—it was just so brilliantly well thought out. And Katniss, she was smart, a constant thinker…it’s refreshing.