The best thing this entire series has going for it is that it is, literally, compulsively read-able. I flew through The Hunger Games and after desperately grabbing up what felt like the last two copies in the world of "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" I had every intention of finishing within the weekend. But those are lofty goals and, I know it sounds crazy, but around the middle of "Mockingjay", I was simply burned out. I had the literary equivalent of a brain freeze. But I don't consider that to be a terrible thing. I just needed a break. If I had perhaps taken more time between the second and third books, I might have actually finished even faster. That being said, when i picked up the book with 142 pages left, at 11pm last night, I didn't end up turning out the light until 2. That's how these books work on you. A chapter is simply not enough. I have some slight issues with the direction that Katniss took, I kind of wish that she had been a little more like Johanna, a little more like the Katniss from the first book, but that being said, I was not disappointed with this novel as the summation of a truly interesting trilogy. It's warnings of the future, it's pleading that we look at ourselves and our destructive path and attempt change, it's simple love story, all of them worked for me. There might be some who balk at the gore, and I myself probably wouldn't want a 10 year old reading it, but I do think it necessary that the true nature of war be put on display. It is an ugly, horrific thing, and we should be frightened of it. We shouldn't necessarily be promoting the idea that it's all as it is in video games with night-vision advertisements and the belief that an "army of one" is all you really need. In the end, what we really need, and what Katniss discovers, John Lennon already gave us, although a little archery training probably never hurt anyone either.
4 out of 5
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