Mockingjay

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.” Finnick Odair, one of the most beloved characters of The Hunger Games trilogy, states this to Katniss after a discussion about Peeta. We left off with Katniss being whisked away to District 13 at the end of Catching Fire. Up until this point everyone had believed that District 13 was completely blown off the map years prior, but they went underground building their resistance, and waiting for the perfect time to rise up. 
Mockingjay follows Katniss as District 13 pushes back on the Capitol. They make Katniss the face of the rebellion. Katniss Everdeen is the Mockingjay. Katniss struggles through the first half of the book because Peeta is being held by the Capitol. Every time they publish Katniss on tv a video of Peeta follows, and each time he shows more and more signs of abuse. By the middle of the book District 13 goes in to save the lives of the hostages. The real twist of the novel was when they went in to save the hostages they just let them take them. When Peeta sees Katniss for the first time you expect a blissful exchange, but instead we get Peeta attempting to kill Katniss. The Capitol "hijacked" Peeta's memories of Katniss, and manipulated them to be terrible memories. The rest of the novel follows Katniss, Gale, Finnick, Peeta, and others as they go deep into the battle of the rebellion. 
For me the deepest part of the book is watching Katniss basically lose the man she loves, and the building of that new relationship. I can remember reading this book for the first time, and just being in complete shock. We had just gotten what we all wanted, a true Katniss/Peeta romance, and it was ripped right out of our hands. I remember going to see the part one of the movie with a friend who had not read the books, and she literally gasped in shock. To me this was the most pivotal moment of the book. If you think of a moment that really just rocked your world this would be it. There are so many things to look at to analyze in this story from Katniss being a symbol for rebellion, the Capitols malicious attitude, or the way the streets of the capitol resemble the games, but to me I just obsessed the idea of this relationship, and it felt like it went right down the drain. The way Suzanne Collins rebuilds their relationship is brilliant. Peeta slowly gains memories back, but he never completely remembers everything. The most tender moment in the book is when he remembers Katniss's favorite color is green. As a reader, I gained back that glimmer of hope, and I clung to it for the remainder of the book. 
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It has a darker tone compared to the first novels, but rightfully so. The nation is going through a dark time, and Suzanne Collins had to represent that. I would HIGHLY recommend any Young Adult genre reader to fall in love with this series just as I did.