While you are all anxiously awaiting my kid's first-day-of-school pics...

It has been a while since I have as anxiously awaited a book like I have Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins. This is the third and final book in the Hunger Games series. (Just read them, you won't be sorry!) Here is what the scholastic website has to say about the first book:

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

And the second:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Suzanne Collins continues the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire, the second novel of the phenomenal Hunger Games trilogy.

And finally Mockingjay:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

I pre-ordered it from Amazon about 4 months ago. I just didn't understand that pre-ordering means that they don't send it until the day before it is released! I was impatiently drumming my fingers waiting for the UPS man to get here.

*SPOILER ALERT* just so you know...

I had to mull this book over for a few days before I could figure out what I really thought about it. This is a story about, among other things, fighting back against a government that has become completely tyrannical. It's about revolution. You know that I am all over that. President Snow is the perfect villain. The perfect nemesis for Katniss. This book had a different feel than the first 2 books. The districts are in full revolt and there is a war going on. The book was violent and gory in spots, but we are talking about war. Things are not always pleasant. People we love die in the book. I was so sad that Cinna was killed and when Finnick and Prim died. It was like a punch in the gut with Prim, especially, because Katniss worked so hard to keep her safe and alive. Katniss finally has to decided between Gale and Peeta. I was sort of rooting for Gale for some reason, but this is not who Katniss ends up with. But the more I thought about it the more it makes sense. Katniss could never live with the cold, angry side of Gale. And she could never live with the role he played, however obscure, in Prim's death.

This book does not have a "happy ending". Don't get me wrong, I love a good happy ending but I don't think it would've felt right if everything would've been tied up neatly in a bow with this story. Our favorite characters, Katniss especially, do not get away unscarred. Her journey is messy and at times she is weak and vulnerable. But she is a survivor, and that is consistent throughout the series. She does succeed in overthrowing the capitol, only to realize that things won't change much under President Coin. I think this notion is something we can all understand. I loved that in the end Katniss got to go home to District 12 and be a part of the rebuilding. I loved that she finds some measure of happiness with Peeta and is finally able to give herself over to loving someone else in that way.

I wish some of the story lines would've been more developed. Katniss's friend Madge gave her the Mockingjay pin in book 1. I kept waiting for Madge and her family to be revealed as a part of the resistance, but all we find out about them is that the whole family died when 12 was bombed by the capitol. I would've liked to know more about President Coin. I also would've liked to know more about Katniss's trial and Peeta's recovery.

Overall I really liked the book. It made me think, that's always a good thing right?! I thought it was a good ending to the story.

So, what did you think of the book?