Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic Press (2010), hardcover, 400 pages, ISBN 978-054310604.

The Final Book of The Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss Everdeen is damaged but has survived the Hunger Games. Now she has made a bargain to be the star of the rebel propaganda campaign in exchange for a chance to exact her revenge on the Capitol by assassinating President Snow.

The final book is a heavy and emotional one. Post-traumatic stress disorder and the terrors of war have shaped many of the characters. The action is not always as intense as the previous books but in many ways, I found Mockingjay to be the most believable in the depiction of the characters and choices and actions.

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro. Knopf (2005), Hardcover, 304 pages.

A quiet yet potent tale about three young people who are fated to brief lives because of their role in a society now free of disease. This story unfolds in an alternate version of the near past and much of it takes place in the remembrances of an idyllic (and disturbing) boarding school in a scenic English countryside. This novel is a heartbreak and the questions it leaves a reader with is why I highly recommended this book.

The Sweet Far Thing

by Libba Bray. Delacorte Press, c. 2007. Pbk. 819 pages. ISBN 978-0-440-23777-8

Final book of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. Gemma struggles with the pressures of preparing for her debut as a young woman in London society while she works to bring order to the growing chaos in the Realms. Alliances are tested and puzzling clues cause Gemma to question who and what to trust--including her own mind.

For those who wish the trilogy wouldn't end, this 800-page plus book may satisfy. Bray leaves it open-ended and it seems possible that she may someday re-visit Gemma Doyle.