Tag / Katniss Everdeen

by jim

Book 7 (of 52) – Mockingjay

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

The third and final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy moves the action out of the arena of the games and into the streets, as a revolution is in full swing and Katniss, the Mockingjay, is its face.  While recovering from her injuries sustained during the escape from the Quarter Quell, she must come to terms with the role she is expected to play and the fates of her friends and loved ones that were left behind, including Peeta, who is also being used as a propaganda tool.

In this final chapter, Suzanne Collins takes a risky departure by moving the action in to a more realistic setting, given the fact we have been fighting 2 wars for years.  Fortunately, the main characters are mostly kept off the front lines, as they are more useful as stars than as soldiers.  As the book goes on, Katniss starts to realize that she is still being used, even if it may be for the greater good.  That doesn’t make it any easier when Prim succombs to a supposed Capital attack, leaving Katniss physically and emotionally broken, until she decides to stop being used and take matters into her own hands.

Overall, I thouroughly enjoyed this trilogy, and, seeing how the first film has already made 70 gajillion dollars, am looking forward to the film adaptations of the remaining two.  I’m not sure what Collins has up her sleeve next, but chances are it will be engrossing and wildly successful.

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Book 16 (of 52) – Catching Fire

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Book two of the Hunger Games trilogy returns the reader, and Katniss Everdeen, to the arena as the next Hunger Games tributes are to be selected from previous winners.  Unbeknownst to Katniss, her defiance in the previous games has caused some unrest in the other districts, and she is now the symbol around which a revolution is being forged.

Suzanne Collins returns us to Panem, and a familiar, yet completely different setting for the next Hunger Games, setting up a final confrontation in the final book of the trilogy that has the fate of a country, and one young woman, hanging in the balance.  I hope to get to book 3 before the film debuts in the spring.

And, with that, we wrap up the 2011 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  Once again, I have fallen far short of the goal, but I did greatly improve my output from last year.  Assuming I continue to double my reading output every year, I will finally surpass the 52 book mark sometime in late 2013.  Of course, the world is slated to end in December of 2012, so I guess it is all for naught.

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Book 13 (of 52) – The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

When a new country rises up from what was once North America, the leaders keep control of their citizens through the Hunger Games, a yearly “competition” where two children, one male and one female, from each of the twelve districts battle to the death.  This year, Katniss Everdeen has volunteered to take her younger sister’s place in the Games, and must survive against 23 other chosen children, including a childhood acquaintance who once showed her kindness.

Suzanne Collins has crafted a world where one could believe that such a contest could be held.  Katniss may just be the next breakthrough literay character, following Lisabeth Salander from the Millennium Trilogy.  As it is, Collins has completed a trilogy of her own, and Katniss will be right behind Salander in heading to the big screen in the US.  I certainly look forward to the next adventure for these characters, assuming I can borrow the book from my niece.