Katniss Everdeen has done the unthinkable. She's survived the Hunger Games not once, but twice. And, as before, she's in even more danger now than she was when she entered the arena. President Snow holds her responsible for the unrest that continues to grow in the Districts. Not only that, he's apparently made it his personal vendetta to break her. Now, no one is safe, not her District, her friends, and most definitely not those she loves most. 
 As she navigates an increasingly deadly, heartbreaking terrain, Katniss will struggle against internal and external forces that threaten to defeat her. 
 I'm caught between counting myself lucky that I started this series when it was complete, and missing out on all the conversations and speculation and discussion that occurred while everyone was waiting for this last installment. I think I missed out a little bit, but I can't deny that I was extremely grateful that I could, after the shocking end of Catching Fire, immediately pick up the final book in the trilogy. 
 And just as with the previous installments, it pulled me further into Katniss's world and made me even more invested in these characters I've come to love. 
 I have to say that I finished this book breathless, broken and drained. It squeezed every last bit of emotion out of me throughout the course of it, and did not let up until the very end. 
 If you think that, after reading the first two books in the trilogy, this mostly a story about love set against the backdrop of a rebellion, I'd disagree. I think this is more a story about a rebellion and war and the people that fight them with a bit of love and romance thrown over the top of it. 
 We're thrust into District Thirteen with Katniss where she realizes that evil doesn't always reside only on the other side of the line. Where being a pawn is sometimes the only choice you have until there's another one. Katniss continues to deal with an increasing amount of stress from her experiences in the Games, and it shows in her actions. 
 Part of the reason that this hit me so hard was because of the utterly heartbreaking truth of what had, and was continuing to, happen to Katniss, Finnick, Peeta, Gale and all the others that I'd been on this journey with. 
 It's not an easy story. It's heart-wrenching, exhausting, and sometimes painful to look at. It pushes you to see things that, I think, a lot of people would rather not examine. But don't get me wrong, this isn't just a book that looks into the darkness. It's also a story of hope and fighting for that hope. The hope for a better tomorrow. 
 I was absolutely absorbed in Mockingjay from the moment I first opened it to the very last page. Weeks later, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this incredibly deep, thought-provoking, and well written trilogy.