Thoughts: Mockingjay

*No spoilers--I wouldn't even call this a review of the book.

Last night I finished reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I am very proud of myself for not neglecting my child or going to bed at a ridiculous time to finish reading it.

I have tons of things to say about the book to someone who's read it, but I don't want to ruin anything for someone who hasn't. So I'll just say I liked it, and I liked the ending. There was the plot twists throughout like the first two books, but this one had closure (thank goodness, being the last book in the series, but that's not always a guarantee).

As I was reading it I was thinking about Suzanne Collins and the kind of pressure she faced as she wrote the book. The Hunger Games series had become so popular that there were millions of fans with their own ideas and expectations for the book. The characters had truly taken on a life of their own.

I didn't read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire until this year, but I still wish I could have read them both again just before reading Mockingjay. It was honestly hard for me to keep track of some of the characters simply because there already were so many and many more are added. I'm sure someone who was more obsessed with the story would have no problem keeping track of them--I don't think it's the fault of the writer or the editors. Just my tired mom-brain that needs help these days. Maybe I just should have kept a character list. At any rate, I will definitely read the three of them back to back at some time--probably before the movie comes out.