Just Finished Reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, culminating with the final book, titled Mockingjay.  The society that heroine protagonist Katniss Everdeen struggles to come to grips with is set far off in the future and involves a centralized dictatorial government (set in a place known as The Capitol, located somewhere in the Rockies) that oppresses the surrounding districts that comprise North America.  A rebellion has formed, though, and its leaders have embraced and promoted Katniss as its public relations/media leader as she has gathered a large following from her former participation in the previous to-the-death Hunger Games...when she openly defied The Capitol and its brutal ruler President Snow.  The rebel movement's symbol is the mockingjay, a hybrid new species combining mockingbirds and a genetically engineered bird called a jabberjay.  Katniss has deep reservations, though, about the rebel movement and particularly its leader, President Coin.  As the story progresses and the rebels advance, it begins to look like the last line in The Who song Won't Get Fooled Again: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss".  But does Katniss get fooled? Don't count on it...

Much of Mockingjay is about the relationships between Katniss and her friends, particularly in regard to her efforts to rescue and restore her old Hunger Games partner Peeta.  Although it is clear that Katniss is a victim of the system and circumstances, she has a tendency to wallow in self-recrimination, blaming herself for everything bad that happens around her.  But then again, I wonder how many combat veterans have had to deal with that issue, especially if they survived situations that caused loss of life among their buddies but spared them...

The best part of Mockingjay is one crucial insight and decision that Katniss makes toward the book's end...a decision that I thought was so cool that I had to reread it a few times!  I enjoyed this series more than most of what I have read lately.  I have yet to see any of the movies, but now that I've read it all it might be a good idea to get started...