Mockingjay (Book 17/50)

Wow! I was not expecting the ending of this book. For the first two, they were intense and constant action. I was a little saddened about the ending; parts of it seemed sloppy. When reading about the part where Katniss is on the battlefield, close to President Snow's home, it seems that she's going to go in and kill him off. However, the part that does not get cleared up is the ending. The bombs were made by people who did not understand the ramifications of creating a weapon. But who's idea was it to rally up children in front of the President's home?

I cannot imagine what the pain must have been when she saw her sister run in there to help the wounded children. Since the beginning of this book, Katniss has done everything she possibly could in order to save her family, particularly her sister. At the end of the book, however when the second bomb detonates, she cannot help her sister and watches her die. I think that this is relevant to how we view life. Sometimes we try so desperately hard to control things that are out of our control. We are human beings, living in (what some peeopl call a "rat race") world that we are infallible and not omniscient. For us, that's scary. This is what Katniss tries to fight in the Hunger Games and during the war.

This book also shows two sides of humanity: Peeta, who continues to show compassion, even though he's deranged at times; and Gabe, who thinks like a soldier, showing at times a lack of compassion and mercy towards others (especially the "enemy"). This book was well written on the personalities of the character. It showed humanity as it is, broken and constantly striving to fix itself.

Not quite sure how this became a children's book. There are themes in these books about death and morality that I think would go too far over anyone under the age of 15. Not to mention some of the scenes described are graphic; parents should consider whether or not their child has the capacity to understand what's going on and not have to worry about giving them nightmares.