“There are worse games you could play.”

I think I’m going to bullet point this one since I am now emotionally exhausted. The rest of the review will be all spoilers.

*This is still not a five star book for me, though I am going to bump it up to 4.5 stars. Mainly, I’m still mad about Finnick dying, although the longer time passes, the more I see why she did it. Also, the ending does still seem a little rushed and confused, but then again, it does sort of reflect Katniss’s mental state during what’s going on, so I’m still torn on that, too.

*The “Real, not real?” game still gets me. If I wanted to spend some real time dissecting how it parallels the events of the rest of the book, I could probably do it very easily. Maybe next time.

*I still love that this ends with Katniss assassinating President Coin. It’s one of those endings that makes perfect sense after the fact, but that you never see coming. I like the weird truce she and Snow have by the end, even though they are still enemies on opposite sides, they understand one another.

*The older I get, the more I admire the ultimate ending of this book, which is Katniss’s fate. There is no happily ever after here, because there are no happily-ever-afters in war. Even if you win, the cost is enormous. Katniss loses nearly everyone by the end, and blames herself for a good deal of it, and she will always be traumatized (as will Peeta). But they are able to attain some measure of happiness despite all of it. The book ends with her telling us that she finally gave in to Peeta after over a decade, and they have two children. The conflicting emotions she feels about all of it are just so good. And the last page remains one of the best ways to end a book. “There are worse games you could play.”

[4.5 stars]