Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, a review

It was a few week ago that I bought the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy and I was immediately hooked. Set in a bleak future where most of the surviving humans are forced to work under the rule of a privileged city, it was just depressing enough to appeal. The main character is selected to participate in the Hunger Games, a yearly tournament where a boy and a girl from each of the twelve Districts (Districts are like lesser cities) are dropped in an arena. The last one of these twenty four alive wins. And not only that, it's broadcast to the entire world. This is supposed to have been started because of a rebellion against the ruling city.

It's such an evil idea. And they're so well written. Set in the first person we follow Katniss Everdeen as she tries to survive a tyrannical government idly killing her, all the while having to put on an act for the cameras. And it has so much to say about oppression and reality tv.

I read the first two books in the space of about a day. Then I scoured the surrounding libraries till I found a copy of the last one, 'Mockingjay'. I settled down to read, wanting to know desperately what happened, as the second book had finished on a cliffhanger.

I'll tell you this now. If you've not read the first two books you should go and do so immediately. If you have and have formed any sort of liking or attachment to any of the characters you might not want to read on. For it is in this book that we learn some thing surprising.

The author hates her characters.

Well she must. She really must. They must have wronged her in some way. There can be no other explanation for what she does to them. There is not a single one spared. While the first two books were sad enough at points you got through it because there was always the light of hope. This book is nothing but horrible happening from start to finish. Lemony Snicket could take notes.

You may think that I'm being overly dramatic for effect. I'm not. I'm really not. I've gone through it again and checked. There is not one character spared. Anyone you can think of will in some way have their lives completely devastated, if they survive at all. In a way the content of the books is like the author's approach to the people in them. The first two books has her playing around with the characters, doing mildly horrible things to them, as is an author's right. Like the people participating in the Hunger Games. In the third book there's no games, there's just war and that's what Collins wages on those she wrote.

I'd love to tell you it has a happy ending. And maybe it does and I'll lying so as not to give away spoilers. But in the end it all seems worthless. Everything that has happened, everything that has been done throughout the books all seems to be for naught. Everything gained is lost. By the end of the book it's almost the same as the start of the first, though maybe slightly different.

And maybe the worst thing happens to the main character. Poor Katniss Everdeen. She might have been built up in the previous novels but she is systematically and professionally broken down into tiny pieces throughout the course of the plot.

I don't think I can say much more on this. The writing style is good. The scenes are set and described well. The world it's set in is near a masterpiece. The plot is concise. For these reasons I'd give it a good seven out of ten.

So I'll say this. Read the first two book, 'The Hunger Games' and 'Catching Fire'. They are brilliant and you could love them. But if you don't want to be completely depressed, stay away from 'Mockingjay'. If you do decide to read it, bring tissues. I know I needed them.

The Amazon link is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1407109375/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=04SK22HQT2B2WR9EXV3M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294