Dark Future by K.C Klein is a post from: The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter

Publisher: Scholastic

Where did you get this book: Purchased from bookstore

Release date: Available now

This review contains spoilers!

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Blurb taken from Scholastic website:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

When we last left Katniss Everdeen, she’d been rescued from the destroyed Quarter Quell arena by the rebels and the people of District 13. And Peeta was left behind. She comes to find out that the Capital destroyed District 12 because of her, and only a few hundred people survived to make their way to 13.

She is despondent and miserable. The rebels want her to become their spokesperson. They want her to be the Mockingjay. All she wants is to curl up and hide. Even being with Gale and her family again doesn’t help her to forget Peeta, nor to keep from imagining what the Capital is doing to him.

When the Capital airs a promo featuring a healthy and whole Peeta calling for a cease-fire, Katniss finally decides she has to step up and do something. She turns into the mouthpiece District 13 has been looking for, and as she sees the atrocities rained down on the other districts, she sinks further and further into her certainty that the Capital must fall, no matter what the cost.

But the next promo shows Peeta thin and beaten and barely coherent. And at the end, he warns her of an attack, leaving Katniss to watch blood hit the screen as she listens to the Peacekeepers beating him. She sinks back into herself and only comes alive again when she’s told they are sending a rescue team after Peeta. A team that includes the one other guy she might love—Gale.

But at its heart, this isn’t a love story. Team Peeta and Team Gale don’t matter nearly as much as whether or not they will defeat the Capital and be free. Because only once they’re free can Katniss really devote herself to figuring out who she loves.

And that is the strength of Collins’ work—it’s honesty. The Hunger Games trilogy isn’t your standard YA fare. It delves into the horrors and realities of war and how it destroys people, along with the pain of trying to put together the pieces again. I don’t want to give away a lot of this book, because Collins did some masterful work and actually managed to surprise me a couple times.

This isn’t a fun book to read, at times it’s almost painful because as a reader you remember that these are children being put on the front lines. Children used as pawns in a war not of their choosing. And Collins pulls that off masterfully. Katniss’s reactions in this book are much more real to me than some of them in Catching Fire. And the pain and loss of war are hammered home time and again. A lot of characters die, and the minds of Katniss and Peeta are damaged to a degree they never wholly recover from.

There have been complaints about the violence in these books. To that I say, yes, they are violent and they should be. They are books about war and wars aren’t painted in black and white—they are painted in teardrops and streaks of blood.

There have also been complaints because the ending is less than perfectly happy. But it’s happy enough, and in real life, that is usually the best we can ask for. It’s what I would have chosen for Katniss, because anything else would have just been one more lie devised by someone in charge.

Are there issues with the book? Sure. The weapons unavailable to Panem seem ridiculous considering the technological advances they do have. Peeta’s recovery sometimes seemed too convenient to me. However, I’m willing to suspend disbelief on the first, and as for the second, since the story is in first person, we only see what Katniss sees, which allows for the possibility of much more happening behind the scenes.

For its raw pain and beauty (and the fact that it actually made me cry), I give Mockingjay an A.

Thank you, Suzanne Collins, for this moving and powerful series. It is a classic in the making. Team Katniss forever

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is a post from: The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter

Think of a world where people are segregated due to a war fought years ago. Where there is a divide between the Capitol, who reins supreme, and the lowly districts. The Capitol forever lets the districts know- they are at their mercy and will. Each year, to show how much power they can wield, they take two children from each district. These children are chosen to compete in a game where it’s prime-time television for the people of the Capitol. Just like a reality show, the competition will be shown across television screens for entertainment. It’s not a popularity contest though, it’s not for the people to vote for who they like the best. No. These youngsters are to compete against one another. They must compete to survive in the wilderness, where strange, mutated animals roam free and where they have to fight for their lives. Pitted against one another, they must kill each other until there is only one remaining. One winner. Welcome to The Hunger Games.

This book is harsh, gritty, raw and simply brilliant. We meet Katniss, the heroine of the story, a sixteen year old girl who lives in district 12, where their speciality is coal mining. Katniss’ existence has been harsh, and she’s learnt how cruel life is from a young age. Since her father was killed in a mining explosion, she has been the care giver of her family- looking after sister Prim, and her mother who broke down completely when their father was killed. Katniss is probably one of the most self-reliant heroines I have read about in a long time. She hunts and kills for her own food, despite the punishment that could be showered on her. She haggles with the other trades people in district 12 to survive, and knows that the way of life in the districts is unfair and in-humane. But, she knows there is no point in crying or getting angry about their situation. It doesn’t fill up their bellies with food.

There were times where I had to put the book down because it felt so real. This is not a story that hides away from the harsh truths. It shows the ugly side of life and human nature, which comes in the form of the Capitol. The Capitol had originally chosen Prim for the games, much to Katniss’ surprise and horror. Without thinking, Katniss steps forward and takes her sisters place. The other chosen player from district 12 is Peeta, who we learn has shared a moment with Katniss when she was younger and in despair. Throughout the games, Katniss shows what a remarkable teenager she is. She forms alliances, knows and feels despair but still manages to keep going.

The Hunger Games is fast paced with non stop action that leaves you in a state of suspension. You feel yourself on edge along with Katniss, not knowing who to trust. Katniss is courageous, smart, fearless and yet at times a frightened teenager where life has knocked her too many times.

Suzanne Collins has shown the cruel and unforgiving nature of humans, yet this book is a compelling read which certainly makes you think of what would you do for survival? And how far would you go?

I give Hunger Games 5/5.

The Hunger Games is available in The Book Depository.

Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. is a post from: The Book Pushers | Book Reviews | Book Chatter