Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay: shocking and original

Where “The Hunger Games” set the stage for the unusual post-apocalyptic world in which Katniss first rose up from her inconsequential and impoverished life as an ace archer to win fame as a killer with a heart (and to become an unpredictable antihero for the masses), and “Catching Fire” uses that same stage to prime the pump for a brewing rebellion, “Mockingjay” takes readers into new territories and an even more brutal and confusing world: one where it’s unclear what sides the characters are on, one where presumed loyalties are repeatedly stood on their head. Much of the action takes place on a battlefield akin to Iraq -- where innocent civilians are murdered to further a cause and each side resorts to unsavory tactics that could lead to a terrorist label. More maudlin than the first two books in the series, “Mockingjay” is also the most violent and bloody and, based on the actions and statements of its characters, its most overtly antiwar -- though not so much that it distracts from a series conclusion that is nearly as shocking, and certainly every bit as original and thought provoking, as “The Hunger Games.”