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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

“The gut-wrenching and sometimes soul-crushing conclusion to an incredible, fast paced, action packed, no holds barred and no feelings spared series. Collins has made her mark and will be a name well remembered in Dystopian Fiction.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pros: All the characters attempts to help Peeta were genuine and kind/The ending though crushing was acceptably bittersweet. 

Cons: Katniss’ blatantly disobeying every single order she's given and refusing to cooperate gets tiresome/Again, the Katniss/Peeta/Gale love triangle goes on and on/Finnick 🤯, I will never be okay with that. 

Full Review; ***Disclaimer - If you have not read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, please do so and then feel free to read this post at your leisure. That way, you'll know what I'm talking about 🙌.***

After the explosive cliffhanger of Catching Fire, Katniss finds herself safe and healing in the previously thought destroyed, District 13. The underground rebellion, led by Plutarch Heavensbee, Haymitch and President Coin (leader of 13) managed to rescue Katniss, Beetee and Finnick from the arena.

They had to leave Peeta, Johanna and others at the mercy of the Capitol. Once Katniss heals up, she’s approached by leadership and asked to be their figurehead as the Mockingjay. She agrees but with conditions, such as Peeta will have immunity once they rescue him because everyone thinks he’s a traitor.

Coin, agrees and Katniss starts traveling to the other Districts to inspire them. She does help turn the tide of the war and after awhile, she knows its time they launch a rescue mission to get their people back.

It works and Peeta, Johanna et al are returned safely but Peeta has been "hijacked." Snow and his interrogators pumped him full of Tracker Jacker venom and made it so every memory he has of Katniss fills him with horror and an inherent need to survive, IE, kill her. 

Things are understandably tense. But they work to try and rehabilitate Peeta and Katniss decides it's time she start actually training so she can be an active participant in the war against the Capitol. She gets her wish and is assigned to the "Star Team" with Gale, Finnick and others. Once they get to the Capitol though, she thinks it's all going to be staged shots for the camera so Beetee can continue spreading her image as the Mockingjay to the rebels. 

What Katniss wants is to fight and she gets her wish, far more than she probably hoped for. There's violence, death, mayhem and an ending to the war that's effective but crushing. 

Collins pulled absolutely no punches in this gritty but satisfying conclusion to this amazing trilogy. Though Katniss can be a bit headstrong and prickly for my liking, it was the other characters, Finnick, Peeta, Haymitch etc that kept me reading. It was good to refresh my memory and re-read the series, so now I'll hopefully know what's going on in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

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