The third and final book of  Suzanne Collins’ the Hunger Games trilogy left many readers aggravated and distraught. My sister threw Mockingjay across our living room when she finished reading, but what did she and all the other angry readers expect? The series is about a futuristic society where the government forces children to participate in a televised fight to the death; it can’t have a fairytale ending. People have to die, lives have to be sacrificed for the good of the revolution. Now, I won’t say who because I don’t want to spoil the book, but people need to understand that this is not a “happy” book.

The novel begins where Catching Fire ended. The rebels from District 13 and survivors from other districts throughout Panem have rescued Katniss from the Games, while Peeta was captured and brought to the Capitol. Katniss is reunited with Gale and her family at the underground community of District 13. The rebels want Katniss to be the Mockingjay, the face of the revolution, but will she cooperate? She’s physically and emotionally worn out from the past year. Can she handle it?

Katniss doesn’t want to be a part of anyone’s “Games” anymore. She realizes that District 13 doesn’t really care about her. They just care about the revolution and inspiring people to fight back with the image of the Mockingjay driving them.  As the book continues the revolution gains speed and battles between the districts and the Capitol rage on until it all finally comes to an end.

Collins did an amazing job. I couldn’t put the book down. Although the book is geared towards a younger audience, Collins didn’t sugarcoat the effects of war and the suffering that Panem goes through. The book was real. I enjoyed the book and don’t feel that it was the weakest book in the series, as many of my friends have described it. It may not have been the finale everyone was hoping for, but it was the perfect ending for the series.