Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay in the third and final installment in The Hunger Games trilogy. The

past two books were leading up to the revolution against the Capitol. This book follows Katniss

Everdeen, the face of the rebellion, through the struggles of the rebellion and the path to

winning.

The book starts with Katniss standing in the remains of District 12, her former home. It was

bombed by President Snow because of her acts of rebellion toward the Capitol in the last two

Hunger Games. Her best friends Gale was able to save most of District 12 and get them to

District 13, the rebellion base. District 13 was thought to have been destroyed in the last

uprising but it still survived and remains underground.

Katniss has become the face of the rebellion and District 13 leader President Coin wants her to

become the official mascot. Katniss is reluctant but knows if she doesn’t Peeta will get hurt.

Peeta was the other District 12 tribute in her first games. They both survived and have since

then become very close. When Katniss was taken from her second Hunger Games, Peeta

wasn’t able to be saved as well and is in government custody.

Katniss starts filming propogandas that are supposed to get people to join the rebellion. They

are stiff and unconvincing. Haymitch points out that Katniss is most inspirational when she is

being spontaneous not scripted. President Coin decides to send her out into the other districts

to help with the war. With her is a film crew so they can film Katniss in action.

Her first stop is District 8 where rebel riots are being organized. Katniss is taken to the rebellion

hospital where her presence makes everyone happier. Then there is news that air bombers are

on their way. Instead of taking cover Katniss goes out and fires explosives at the aircraft. She

successfully shoots them down and saves District 8. She then gives an inspiring speech about

how fire is catching. This message is broadcasted all over and Katniss is highly praised for it.

Katniss starts to wonder if all her acts of rebellion are making Snow hurt Peeta even more. The

next mission is to District 12, where Katniss is filmed singing a song called “The Hanging Tree”

that too is broadcasted everywhere. In District 12 Gale tells Katniss he loves her. They kiss but

Gale points out that Katniss will only kiss him when he’s in pain.

When they get back to District 13 there is a commercial being broadcasted from the Capitol.

Halfway through Peeta yells that District 13 will be dead by night. He is beaten down by

peacekeepers and the commercial is cut off. Haymitch realizes that Peeta was warning them

about an attack. President Coin gets everyone into bunkers. They get everyone down there in

time and spend the next few days down there. While they're down there Katniss’s sister points

out that President Snow will keep Peeta alive so he can keep using him to weaken Katniss.

When the bombing stops they put on a mission to go rescue all the people being held captive in

the Capitol. They come back a few days later with everybody. When Katniss goes to see Peeta

he tries to attack her. Haymich figures out that the Capitol altered his brain to make him believe

that Katniss is all evil. Peeta must slowly be taken out of this state of mind.

The next mission is to District 2. Gale tells Katniss that he is not jealous of Peeta and that he

actually feels sorry for him. They kiss and start reminiscing about their time in District 12. The

rebellion plans to bomb the “Nut”, a government stronghold filled with civilians but they argue

that since the Capitol bombed District 12 it was the Capitol’s turn to have casualties. During the

bombing Katniss is shot. Her Body armor protects her but she still has to recover in the hospital.

The next mission is to the Capitol. It has been rigged with “pods” which are things that when

activated release numerous dangerous, life threatening things. They have a map of all the pods

and spend the next couple of days shooting at them. Katniss starts to get bored and plans to run

off and kill Snow on her own. Then a partially cured Peeta shows up and Katniss questions if

President Coin wants her dead. She finds out from another team member that it’s possible

because Coin wants to get rid of any treat to her authority. Peeta is ordered to be watched at all

times to ensure Katniss doesn’t get hurt.

One day a secret pod sets off a bomb and kills their leader, Boggs. He gives Katniss the

hologram with all the pod locations on it and tells her not to trust anyone. The bomb also sets

Peeta off and he kills another team member while being restrained from attacking Katniss.

Katniss lies and says she’s on a mission to kill President Snow her camera crew goes along

with so then everyone else does too. Peeta says their next move should be to kill him since he

is such a danger to everyone else. Katniss won’t go for it and instead they handcuff him and

take his weapons.

They go through a series of tunnels underneath the Capitol. Another secret pod is set off and

two others die. Katniss is able to kill the mutts with the “pod” hologram self-destruct. Peeta

surprisingly stays very calm. Katniss tells Peeta that she’s scared and they kiss. He then tells

her he won’t let Snow kill her.

They find someone willing to help them. She provides them with shelter, food, and disguises.

They set out the next day for the President’s Mansion. On their way a riot starts and they get

recognized. Bombs start going off and a lot of people get hurt. Katniss sees her sister running to

help those that are injured. Then a second round of bombs are dropped. Her sister is killed and

Katniss is knocked unconscious.

When she wakes up she finds out that the war is over and the rebels have won. She goes to

visit SNow in jail. He tells her that he didn’t set off those bombs, that Coin set them off to turn

the Capitol against him. He also tells her that Katniss was used to distract him and use his

resources to try to kill her and that's why Coin was able to win. Katniss realizes this is true and

remembers Gale talking about a bomb designed to go off then go off again when paramedics

got there.

Katniss is scheduled to kill Snow in front of everyone. Before this Coin holds a meeting about

what they should do about the Hunger Games. She proposes that they get rid of them and hold

one more but instead use the Capitol’s children since before they were exempt. Katniss and

Haymitch both agree with this. At the execution Katniss shoots Coin instead of Snow.

She is imprisoned for her crimes but Haymitch gets her out by arguing that she was just

traumatized. Katniss goes back to District 12 where her old house is actually fine. She and

Peeta end up together since Gale is now a part of the government. The Hunger Games are

banned and Katniss and Peeta have become legendary heroes. Together Katniss and Peeta

have two children. Katniss still has nightmares but is happy to have ended up with Peeta.

This book was a great ending to Collins' trilogy. It closed up all the storylines and ended

reasonably. It was exciting getting to read about all these great characters in yet another

adventure. I feel that his book did much better about making Katniss’s feelings about Peeta and

Gale very clear.

One thing I didn’t like about the book was Katniss blaming Gale for her sister’s death. I know

that he designed the bomb but Coin was the one who set it off and ultimately it was her fault. I

also wish we had gotten to know more about how the government is working now that the

rebellion is over.

Overall this book was great and didn’t ruin the series at all. I give it an 8/10 for its great storyline

and justice it did for the characters. I recommend this book series to anyone looking for a good

utopian gone wrong storyline.

Checkout Mockingjay from the Newport Beach Public Library.