Audio Book Challenge: Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins - 2010

2011 Audio Book Challenge: Book # 4 (of 6)

Title: Mockingjay (Hunger Games # 3)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Year: 2010

Read By: Carolyn McCormick

Publisher: Scholastic

Date Read: 03-23-2011

Overall: * * * * * (5/5)

GoodReads Blurb: Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding.

My Review: Mockingjay is very different from the first two Hunger Games books. The first two books involve the actual games and are a bit more fast-paced. Mockingjay takes the games out of the arena and puts Katniss and the other characters into the war that begins to rage between the rebels and the capitol. For this reason there are many periods of recovery for Katniss as she endures numerous injuries and emotional problems due to the war.

I think this book is a really good depiction of a war. It is not a happy book, there is not as much humor as the previous two, and it feels very real. There are wins and losses, friends die, and everyone's strength is tested.

Listening to this book was harder than the first two. It just felt much more sad to be listening to all of the battles and attacks, the deaths, even the rescues made me want to cry because McCormick does a great job adding touches of emotion while reading the story. I've grown quite attached to McCormick since the first book.

To Purchase: Print version: Amazon, B&N. Audio Book version: Amazon, B&N

Currently listening to: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (read by Jim Dale)

I listened to this as part of the 2011 Audio Book Challenge hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner

Books Read in 2011: 29 (of 100)

Audio Book Challenge Review: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - 2008

2011 Audio Book Challenge: Book # 2 (of 6)

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

Year: 2008

Read By: Carolyn McCormick

Publisher: Scholastic

Date Read: 2-4-2011

Overall: * * * * (4/5, based on audio book)

GoodReads Blurb: Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My Review: I really enjoyed listening to this book. I love The Hunger Games trilogy in print format, and I've been wanting to reread all 3, so I figured I could incorporate that into the audio book challenge I am participating in. At first, I was turned off by the reader's voice, because she sounds a lot older than Katniss, but after a few chapters I was used to it and her voice was actually very soothing.

There were many times that tears came to my eyes while listening to this book, because some of the sad or shocking parts seem even more real when they are read out loud. I wish the reader had given some more emphasis to Katniss's sarcastic inner voice, because I always found Katniss to be very funny, and I felt like McCormick didn't get that tone of voice the way I had wanted it to be.

A downfall of listening to this story was that I would have to stop listening when I parked my car and sometimes that would be in the middle of a suspenseful or action-packed part of the story, which made listening kind of a choppy experience. I am glad that the same woman does the other books in trilogy, because now that I am used to her voice, I really like it and I wouldn't want to have to get used to another voice.

To Purchase: Print version or Audio Book version

Currently Reading: Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Currently Listening To: Catching Fire (Hunger Games # 2) by Suzanne Collins (read by Carolyn McCormick)

Books Read in 2011: 17

I listened to this audio book as part of the 2011 Audio Book Challenge hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner