Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

*somewhat spoilish if you haven’t read this book or the previous two books in this series. 

I’ve been putting off talking about this book for a few weeks now. Partly because, what can I possibly say about this book that hasn’t already been said? (So I'm going to keep this short). But mostly because, sometimes I think timing is everything when reading a book. I started Mockingjay at night, before I went to bed, and I was tired. (Worst time to start a book FYI). I continued to pick up this book at night, already tired and therefore only getting through a chapter or two at a time. This is my least favourite way to get into a book. It makes the reading experience disjointed, and it’s hard to recall what you read the night before. Instead of worrying about how I wouldn’t get any reading done in a few days span unless I tiredly read a chapter each night, I should have just stopped and picked up Mockingjay when I had a good hour to get into it. 

I found the first half of the book slow, confusing and a little boring. I felt like all I was reading was Katniss roaming the halls in a drug-induced fog. I couldn’t figure out where this book was going to go. I didn’t like how Katniss would pass-out and wake up days, even weeks later, only then to find out what had happened in her absence. I felt like so much of the story line was told from the aftermath viewpoint instead of from the present. This was disappointing because Collins is so good at telling the story from the front-lines (like when the games are going on). 

Hunger Games was definitely my favourite of the trilogy. But I AM SO GLAD that Collins tied up the loose ends in the story. I needed to know who Katniss would end up with, whether they had children, where they would live, etc. And Collins gave me that. It might not have been the ending I envisioned or thought I wanted, but it made sense. I could accept it. My heart swelled when I read the last few pages and tears brimmed in my eyes. I didn’t want to say good-bye to Gale, Prim, Katniss, Peeta or Haymitch, but at least I never have to think “oh my god, but THEN what happened?!” 

So after, when he whispers, “You love me. Real or not real?”

I tell him, “Real.”