Review Detail

Reader reviewed by alicia t.

Suzanne Collins has done it again, entwining the deepest and darkest
feels of life into our every day, if not more so, modern world. There
are few words that can describe the heavy heart I felt as I flipped that
final black page. A stinging pain of loss, and yet the small hope of a
rejuvenating world safely tucked between a hardbound cover.

Very
quick paced, if not one of the most precise and developed plots I've
ever read. Page 1 picks right up from District 12's ruins, and whisks
Katniss Everdeen away into a foreign civilization. District 13.
Comprised of its own laws and structured leadership, we soon learn that
mental trauma, paranoia, pain, and psychological dramatization are
nothing shy of common colds. For our seemingly fearless Mockingjay
leader, it's just too much. Collins illustrates the most violent deaths,
being consumed by mutants, and describes the Capitol's unhinging
torture vividly. One by one, people of the rebellious cause die. It's
the Hunger Games on a mass-effective scale. The creators are now
players, and perhaps Katniss discovers, that though she is the face of
revolution, she's nothing more than an expendable puppet; as she's
always been.

As a reader, I felt part of me was pulled into the
rebellion, alongside Katniss. We start off knowing nothing of the
Capitol, and one by one the truths and treachery are exposed. Katniss
Everdeen has paid the ultimate price for this rebellion, as the book's
synopsis hints, and I could feel myself "dying" with each character that
parted. In a way, I felt myself experiencing Katniss's distress as
Collin's words spin such a painful void into the reader's heart, as we
struggle through Katniss's suicidal contemplation. Nothing, for her, is
more painful than being physically alive but emotionally empty. We see
new faces of returning characters, one in particular being Finnick Odair
of District 4. The Capitol's favorite victor and drop-dead gorgeous
hearthrob. He always seemed so strong, so capable and clearheaded, and
yet in this book he's completely unhinged and slipping into his own
state of emptiness. Revealing himself as a "sex symbol" was just as
painful to read as the flashback Katniss depicts as she watches him
being torn apart. Finnick does go about, however, striking a few
provocative poses to lighten the atmosphere, and his wedding to Annie
Cresta is nothing but warming in this fictional world where very few
things bring comfort.

However, I felt that this book lacked an
"Ultimate Climax" of sorts. From beginning to end it was jam-packed with
technical and military-related events that left very little time for
all the information to sink in. Although Collins depicts each setting
down to the atmosphere, I felt it was hard to fully keep up with all the
location changes and explosive destruction. Right when you start
getting comfortable with one setting, it blows up. They're constantly on
the move and so many new faces and locations pop up, it's nearly
impossible to keep a clear tab on where they are, exactly.

Katniss
ends up with Peeta. Surprise? I think not. It's been fairly
predictable, and although I have to admit I was leaning more towards
Gale, I could not picture Collins forsaking every girl's favorite bread
boy. There has been very little room for romance in this speed-rap of a
novel, but towards the last few pages Katniss's satisfying choice
concluded the trilogy. I'd have to say Finnick and Annie have been this
story's highlighted relationship. It depicts starcrossed lovers, in its
own way. The mad girl from District 4 and the most gorgoues man who
loves her unconditionally. Warm, fuzzy, but like everything else, filled
with loss and pain.

In the end, I'd give this conclusion a 4/5. A
bit too fast paced for my taste, although some readers might disagree
because it's the amazing speed that keeps them hooked. This conclusion
was not as romantically-oriented, although I did love the bit where Gale
and Peeta had their little "man to man" talk in Tigris's basement as to
who Katniss would choose. I find it even more spectacular however, than
this explosive political rebellion of a story, sprouted from one single
event. The berries. Unforgettable, inspirational, and yet stripped down
to the rawest emotional pain, there could not have been a more
appropriate way to end the story of The Girl on Fire.