Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My college-age daughters and I all reading Mockingjay at the same time.

It's been tough.  I practically had to stay away from the computer for days because I didn't want to see a single review for Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, until I had a chance to finish it. I was afraid I'd bump into a review from some of you speedy readers out in the blogosphere.  Well, I finished it last night and loved it. Like the second book in the series, Catching Fire, this book had a lot of plot twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.  For example the part when Peeta... oh yes, I wasn't going to put any spoilers in my review because you will want to figure it out for yourself.

All three of the books in the series had slow starts, in my opinion, and Mockingjay was no exception.  Though there were moments of excitement, the real action didn't start until after page 100, with the excitement we've come to expect in the Hunger Games series not reaching any kind of fevered pitch until part 3.  I'm hoping the readers, especially reluctant readers, won't get discouraged before getting to the climax and to the satisfying, if not a little sad, conclusion. As soon as I finished the book I wanted to reread the last chapter again. In fact, I did, just to make sure that....

I think it will take a few days for the full impact of the story to sink in and I will want to have a copy of the book nearby so I can look up passages as I think through the storyline.  In other words, I plan to savor this book, this series.  My eldest daughter told me today that this is a series that she hopes will come out in a movie.  I'm not sure I agree, because I have made such vivid pictures in my head of all the characters and the wild settings.  I'm not sure I am ready to give those up to Hollywood just yet.

If you haven't done so, read the book.  Read the whole series.  You won't be disappointed.  I promise.