Synopsis (via Goodreads): "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 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.
My Take: First off, I liked the book. I liked how disassociated Katniss was with everything going on around her in parts. I liked how bad things happened and not all the good guys survived. I liked how the survivors had to pull them up by their bootstraps and march grimly onward, even when their greatest wish is to lie down and give up. I liked that Katniss wasn't the greatest leader ever. She had a huge learning curve. She was unapologetically surly and yet she can't stop her forward momentum once she starts.
Katniss' journey was huge. She had become an unwilling figurehead and she had a hard time reconciling that her every action had a huge impact on those that were looking to her. The moment she speaks out against the Capitol, people start getting hurt. People start being hurt because it hurts Katniss herself. How do you come to grips with that? How do you come to understand that doing nothing is ultimately as bad as whipping up a rebellion?
In the end, I was pleased with the way it turned out. Katniss' story was sad and seeing her broken and trying to find her way again made her very human to me. Everyone else, from Peeta to Gale to Haymitch, all had their parts to play to push Katniss into becoming the woman she turned out to be.
I'm sad to step out of this world.
More books by Suzanne Collins
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