If fire represents revolution, then Katniss Everdeen is a Phoenix rising from the ashes. After her district is bombed into oblivion, Katniss and her family find themselves hiding out in the peculiar underground labyrinth that is District 13. While living here, she officially takes on the role of “Mockingjay” in exchange for the immunity of Peeta and the other captured tributes. Tensions begin to rise as a revolution is tipping.

A slow burn, Mockingjay delivers on all of the trilogy’s promises and more. Abused by a government that doesn’t care about them, the characters are exactly as you’d imagine real people; traumatized and broken. We are shown a horrific and richly realized world. Katniss refuses to be manipulated by the government even if it costs her her life. And because of that decision – that resistance – other people follow. Katniss Everdeen may not be a real person. Panem may not be a real country and the Capitol may not be a real place, but they don’t have to be. A story doesn’t have to be real if the message is true.