The third and final book in The Hunger Games series is Mockingjay (dystopian/science fiction, 390 pages) by Suzanne Collins.

“Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans – except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay – no matter what the personal cost.”

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Katniss was rescued by the rebellion of District 13 and taken there to start churning propaganda for their own war machine. And as Katniss sees more and more of the way District 13 operates, we’re all left feeling like no one in charge is actually taking care of the people.

Everything wrong with Panem is wrong with our world today, where we all struggle to survive and those with the resources hoard it and then lord it over everyone else. The entitled live in a very different world where all their basic needs are met and they see the people from other Districts as conversation pieces and not as real people with real struggles, but it’s also really hard to acknowledge your own privilege and try to make the world better for those whose existence needs are not being met, especially when you have been catered to in such a way that you are also trapped by the system.

Imagine growing up in a world where you and all you love were never in any danger, not from starvation and not from being culled in the annual teenage death match games. If you were never hungry, what would life be like for you to suddenly find yourself starving all the time? If you lived a life of pseudo personal freedom where you were allowed to dress how you wanted, eat what and when you wanted, and pursue an occupation at least mostly of your choice and then to find yourself subject to a ridiculously rigid schedule and system.

Neither the Capitol, nor District 13, treat the people as anything other than meat for whichever grinder they need at that time, which feels a lot like our own modern world today.

Katniss, though, sees everyone as individuals. Like how she rescues her prep team from the District 13 jail, where they’d been starved, tortured, and abused because they didn’t understand the rules of their new living arrangement. No one showed them a shred of compassion or care until Katniss found them and made Plutarch get them out, which he only does because he needs them to make her camera-ready again. But she understands that it’s not their fault they don’t fit in with this new regime. And she understands why Haymitch drinks and Johanna steals her medicine. She doesn’t fault them or judge them for it. And then she brought Johanna pine needles when she’s back in the hospital after failing her soldier exam, just to help her feel a little piece of home.

I think the key takeaway from all of this is that we have to do better by each other. Listen to each other, help each other, participate in even small acts of thoughtfulness or kindness. And, when given the chance, make the world a better place by ensuring others have a solid chance at a fair and democratic system not based on violence, torture, trauma, and control.

Honestly, this whole series is so very good, but also really hard to read in the world we live in right now. This book is probably a low four on my rating scale. I’m very glad I own a copy and I will definitely reread it in the future.

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. Scholastic Press, 2010.