Katniss Everdeen, victor of the Hunger Games and survivor of the Quarter Quell is in the spotlight of yet another deadly serious media production. The rebels of District 13 want her to be the public face of their fight against the ruling Capital, but their methods and motivations are unnervingly close to those of the power that they would unseat. Katniss must again pick her battles, deciding how best to support her family, survive her manipulators, maintain her individuality, and fight for a just society.
Katniss is one stubborn survivor. She is passionate, impulsive, and increasingly bitter and shellshocked as the trilogy progresses. In Mockingjay she spends about half her time in hospital beds recovering from one injury or another. Katniss seems to be about to crack up at any moment which is a little unnerving when we're used to seeing her so strong, no less so when compared to the mental fragility of the other previous victors. Each is shown to be suffering from some form of mental illness or post-traumatic stress. It's been a while since I've read the previous books, but I think this one may be even more grim and violent. Or perhaps the violence of war is more shockingly realistic than the reality show violence of the previous books.
I enjoyed Mockingjay, and Katniss is one of my favourite kick-ass protagonists, but I still can't get my head around why this series has captured so much attention. The subject matter is timely and the books are page-turners, but there are other good books out there that don't inspire a fraction of this excitement. A book store employee I was chatting with observed that it's one of the few series that appeals to both boys and girls, which may be part of the explanation, but I imagine in the end it comes down to luck. The Hunger Games captured the right attention at the right time and has been launched into series super-stardom.
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