Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (spoiler alert!)

SPOILER ALERT! BEWARE!

I remember picking up the Hunger Games and finishing it in about 5 hours without putting it down. When I got to the end of book 1 and realized it was a trilogy I was wondering how I could wait that long for the ending. Well, here it is: Mockingjay. If you have not read the other books, read them first. I also recommend re-reading Catching Fire before starting Mockingjay. I don't want to give away too much, so this may be brief.

Mockingjay begins with Katniss walking through the remains of burned out District 12. We find out that her family is safe and the survivors of District 12 now live in the Underground of District 13. Gale is also safe, but Peeta's fate at this time is unknown. The story takes us through the rise of the rebels against the Capitol.

Katniss has many struggles: the struggle of becoming the Mockingjay, the symbol of the uprising; the struggle of how to protect her family; the struggle of who to believe; the struggle of what to believe; and the struggle of who to love.

While reading, you realize that most of the time there is a sense of maturity in Katniss that I don't think we saw in the other books. She has her moments of immaturity, but, for the most part, the things she has done and overcome have made the character more mature. Watching Katniss mature throughout the story was interesting.

I think that Gale is a pretty consistent character, he will fight for what he believes is right. Peeta's character was a surprise to me in this story. I think it was his character that I liked the most in Mockingjay. His struggles and changes while harsh, made him endearing.

I knew someone had to die and was surprised by some of the characters that did. I found myself crying at the bombing death at the end of the Uprising. I was not prepared for that one. The choice that Katniss made at the trial was no surprise, but did add to her maturity.

I think that the choices that Katniss made were good. Choosing the dandelion over the fire was the right way to go. It was a  great ending to choose  "rebirth over destruction". The epilogue was a nice tie-up. Overall, I think this was a satisfactory ending to a wonderful trilogy, although, I think that Hunger Games will always be my favorite.