Mark Reads ‘Mockingjay’: Chapter 20

In the twentieth chapter of Mockingjay, HOLY GOD NOTHING IS SAFE ANYMORE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Mockingjay.

It’s as if in an instant, a painted window shatters, revealing the ugly world behind it. Laughter changes to screams, blood stains pastel stones, real smoke darkens the special effect stuff made for television.

OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED OH MY GOD THERE IS NO WAY TO WRITE YOURSELF OUT OF THIS.

I reach Boggs first, try to make sense of the torn flesh, missing limbs, to find something to stem the red flow from his body. Homes pushes me aside, wrenching open a first-aid kit. Boggs clutches my wrist. But his next words are an order. “The Holo.”

OH MY GOD BOGGS. YOU ARE PRETTY MUCH DEAD MY CREYS THIS IS SO INTENSE WHAT THE FUCK

The Holo. I scramble around, digging through chunks of tile slick with blood, shuddering when I encounter bits of warm flesh. Find it rammed into a stairwell with one of Boggs’s boots.

YEAH, SO CAN WE PLEASE GO  BACK TO THIS BEING A REALLY BORING WAR FULL OF SILLY SCENES OF THEM FILMING PROPOS. WHAT THE FUCK.

Homes has the stump of Boggs’s left thigh cupped by some sort of compression bandage, but it’s already soaked through. He’s trying to tourniquet the other above the existing knee.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. WE CAN NEVER HAVE NICE THINGS AGAIN.

But Boggs has both hands working the Holo. He’s typing in a command, pressing his thumb to the screen for print recognition, speaking a string of letters and numbers in response to a prompt. A green shaft of light bursts out of the Holo and illuminates his face. He says, “Unfit for command. Transfer of prime security clearance to Squad Four-Five-One Soldier Katniss Everdeen.”

WHAT THE HOLY FLYING FUCK WHY THE FUCK IS HE TRANSFERRING AUTHORITY TO KATNISS I SERIOUSLY CANNOT HANDLE THIS MY BRAIN IS GOING TO EXPLODE.

Finnick’s yelling something back, gesturing to the end of the block where we entered. Black, oily matter spouts like a geyser from the street, billowing between the buildings, creating an impenetrable wall of darkness. It seems to be neither liquid or gas, mechanical or natural. Surely it’s lethal. There’s no heading back the way we came.

I SERIOUSLY CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE THIS. WHAT IS THIS SHIT.

I don’t know what they’re doing until another bomb, ten yards away, detonates, opening a hole in the street. Then I realize this is a rudimentary attempt at minesweeping. Homes and I latch on to Boggs and begin to drag him after Gale. Agony takes over and he’s crying out in pain and I want to stop, to find a better way, but the blackness is rising above the buildings, swelling, rolling at us like a wave.

THIS MIGHT POSSIBLY BE ONE OF THE MOST HORRIFYING THINGS I HAVE EVER READ. LITERALLY FILLED WITH TERROR AND SADNESS OH MY GOD BOGGS THIS IS SO FUCKING AWFUL.

I’m yanked backward, lose my grip on Boggs, slam into the stones. Peeta looks down at me, gone, mad, flashing back into the land of the hijacked, his gun raised over me, descending to crush my skull.

WHYYYYYYYYYY WHYYYYYYYYYY WHYYYYYYYYYYY MY BRAIN CANNOT PROCESS SO MUCH STUFF ALL AT THE SAME TIME

I roll, hear the butt slam into the street, catch the tumble of bodies out of the corner of my eye as Mitchell tackles Peeta and pins him to the ground. But Peeta, always so powerful and now fueled by tracker jacker insanity, gets his feet under Mitchell’s belly and launches him further down the block.

WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING. PEETA. WHAT WHAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING

There’s a loud snap of a trap as the pod triggers. Four cables, attached to tracks on the buildings, break through the stones, dragging up the net that encases Mitchell. It makes no sense—how instantly bloodied he is—until we see the barbs sticking from the wire that encases him. I know it immediately. It decorated the top of the fence around 12. As I call to him not to move, I gag on the smell of the blackness, thick, tarlike. The wave has crested and begun to fall.

THIS IS FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE. A NET MADE OF BARBED WIRE. PEETA JUST KILLED MITCHELL. THIS WAVE OF BLACKNESS IS GOING TO COME CRASHING DOWN. THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE CHAPTER OF ALL CHAPTERS EVER TO BE CHAPTERED EVER.

Gale and Leeg 1 shoot through the front door lock of the corner building, then begin to fire at the cables holding Mitchell’s net. Others are restraining Peeta now. I lunge back to Boggs, and Homes and I drag him inside the apartment, through someone’s pink and white velvet living room, down a hallway hung with family photos, onto the marble floor of a kitchen, where we collapse. Castor and Pollux carry in a writhing Peeta between them. Somehow Jackson gets cuffs on him, but it only makes him wilder and they’re forced to lock him in a closet.

WHAT THE HOLY HELL, I CAN’T BREATHE ANYMORE. OK, SO, IF I MAY, I THINK THE IMAGE OF THEM DRAGGING A BLOODY BOGGS THROUGHT SUCH A “PRETTY” APARTMENT IS KIND OF AMAZING AND WILL LOOK FANTASTIC IN THE MOVIE BUT SERIOUSLY, HOW CAN ANY OF THIS BE PG-13, THIS IS SERIOUSLY SOME SCARY SHIT.

ALSO LOL PEETA’S IN THE CLOSET LOL

Boggs forces the Holo into my hand. His lips are moving, but I can’t make out what he’s saying. I lean my ear down to his mouth to catch his harsh whisper. “Don’t trust them. Don’t go back. Kill Peeta. Do what you came to do.”

I draw back so I can see his face. “What? Boggs? Boggs?” His eyes are still open, but dead. Pressed in my hand, glued to it by his blood, is the Holo.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. WHY. WHY. WHY SHOULDN’T SHE TRUST ANYONE. WHY SHOULD SHE KILL PEETA. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

Peeta’s fee slamming into the closet door break up the ragged breathing of the others. But even as we listen, his energy seems to ebb. The kicks diminish to irregular drumming. Then nothing. I wonder if he, too, is dead.

JESUS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOOD THAT CAN COME FROM ALL OF THIS. THIS IS THE WORST OF ALL THINGS. WHAT. THE. HELL.

“Our radio communicators went dead almost immediately. Probably an electromagnetic pulse device. But I’ll get us back to camp. Give me the Holo.” Jackson reaches for the unit, but I clutch it to my chest.

“No. Boggs gave it to me,” I say.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snaps. Of course, she thinks it’s hers. She’s second in command.

“It’s true,” says Homes. “He transferred the prime security clearance to her while he was dying. I saw it.”

“Why would he do that?” demands Jackson.

I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!!! I MEAN, CLEARLY HE IS AWARE THAT KATNISS IS GOING TO SNEAK AWAY TO KILL SNOW, BUT WHY ON EARTH DOES HE WANT HER TO KILL PEETA? WHAT DOES HE KNOW THAT WE DON’T??? A;DFIJSJKAS;DFJ 29087_*& &*(^(%TOGJK ;AKSLDFJHA;AFKL

“Because I’m on a special mission for President Coin. I think Boggs was the only one who knew about it.”

This in now way convinces Jackson. “To do what?”

Why not tell them the truth? It’s as plausible as anything I’ll come up with. But it must seem like a real mission, not revenge. “To assassinate President Snow before the loss of life from this war makes our population unsustainable.”

I LOVE YOU FOREVER, KATNISS. YOU ARE MY FAVORITE BADASS.

“I don’t believe you,” says Jackson. “As your current commander, I order you to transfer the prime security clearance over to me.”

“No,” I say. “That would be in direct violation of President Coin’s orders.”

Guns are pointed. Half the squad at Jackson, half at me. Someone’s about to die, when Cressidea speaks up. “It’s true. That’s why we’re here. Plutarch wants it televised. He thinks if we can film the Mockingjay assassinating Snow, it will end the war.”

HOLY GOD, CRESSIDA, NOW I LOVE YOU, TOO. AMAZING. THAT IS AMAZING. SHE STOOD UP FOR KATNISS!!!!

This gives Jackson pause. Then she gestures with her gun toward the closet. “And why is he here?”

OH. OH SHIT. OH SHIT THAT’S RIGHT, HE MAKES NO SENSE. ;LKASDJF;ALKSDFH;AHDF;KLAHJS

Cressida comes to my aid again. “Because the two post-Games interviews with Caesar Flickerman were shot in President Snow’s personal quarters. Plutarch thinks Peeta may be of some use as a guide in a location we have little knowledge of.”

CRESSIDA, YOU ARE THE BEST. QUICK-THINKING AND COURAGEOUS. ILU 4EVA BUT WAIT WHY ARE YOU TAKING KATNISS’S SIDE I SHALL SIDE EYE YOU JUST IN CASE.

Homes unlockes the closet and heaves an unconscious Peeta over his shoulder. “Ready.”

“Boggs?” says Leeg 1.

“We can’t take him. He’d understand,” says Finnick.

DON’T CRY, MARK. DON’T FUCKING CRY.

Ok, so, the first moment in the entire chapter where I didn’t feel like forty thousand things were all happening at the exact same moment. JESUS, GUYS. This chapter is so intense it hurts to read even a second time.

When I say that I don’t know how this is going to be resolved, I mean it. I don’t even have an inkling of an idea. Katniss is so far in the whole of awful and complicated that I literally cannot conceive of a single method for her to get to Snow and kill him, LET ALONE DEAL WITH GALE AND PEETA. What the fuck, Collins.

Katniss gets her bearings at this point and comes up with an idea for an escape: to leave the same way they came in, tracing back over the path of the black wave. Obviously, people object to this, and understandably so. The goo was clearly toxic, but Gale scrapes off some of the black stuff from his boots. It’s not corrosive and was probably intended to either smother or poison them, so it’s probably safe. Castor translates Pollux, who states that the cameras are also probably disabled, too.

And so Katniss leads her troops out of the apartment, onto the thick batch of good covering the ground. I really liked this part:

“If anyone needs to go back, for whatever reason, now is the time,” I say. “No questions asked, no hard feelings.”

Despite that no one takes up the offer, I still think it’s a fantastic moment for her; she understand that her taking the lead might be jarring or ridiculous, so she’s giving the troops a choice. Has anyone else in the rebellion done such a thing? I don’t think so, and it demonstrates a sense of respect that I appreciate.

The streets of this part of the Capitol are covered with this weird, gel-like black stuff, which seems to have triggered other pods as well. They come upon a pile of tracker jackers, which are thankfully dead. In fact, it seems that any of the pods in the path of this gunk are now gone or disabled. As the goo begins to thin out, Katniss directs the group into an apartment  off to the side so they can regroup and figure out their next plan of attack.

Katniss is confused and so am I. I don’t know how to solve this. I don’t know what she’s supposed to do with all these people, or with Peeta, or how she’s supposed to get into the Capitol and then kill Snow and then hope it solves things? THIS IS SO COMPLICATED.

Just as the complexity of the mess I’ve dragged everybody into begins to overload my brain, a distant chain of explosions sends a tremor through the room.

“It wasn’t close,” Jackson assures us. “A good four or five blocks away.”

“Where we left Boggs,” says Leeg 1.

Ugh, the Capitol is bombing where they think they are. And just at that moment, the TV flickers to life, a Capitol broadcast filling up the screen, to confirm that very thought. I can’t imagine how strange this is, but the remaining troops watch themselves act out what they’d just experienced moments ago. Even stranger? The reporter names out Gale, Finnick, Boggs, Peeta, Cressida, and Katniss:

Now we cut to a live feed. A reporter stands on a roof with the Peacekeepers. Behind her, the apartment block burns. Firefighters try to control the blaze with water hoses. We are pronounced dead.

There’s a silver lining to this, obviously, since they now have the chance to move closer to the center of the Capitol without being detected, but I have to say…jesus, to watch someone say you’re dead on national television? That is so fucking weird. Right? Right?

We watch as they play the footage over and over. Revel in their victory, especially over me. Break away to do a montage of the Mockingjay’s rise to rebel power—I think they’ve had this part prepared for a while, because it seems pretty polished—and then go live so a couple of reporters can discuss my well-deserved violent end. Later, they promise, Snow will make an official statement. The screen fades back to a glow.

Seriously, one of the most bizarre things a person can witness. Is this going to make a difference to the rebellion? Didn’t Coin want Katniss killed anyway, so she could become a martyr?

“So, now that we’re dead, what’s our next move?” asks Gale.

“Isn’t it obvious?” No one even knew Peeta had regained consciousness. I don’t know how long he’s been watching, but by the look of misery on his face, long enough to see what happened on the street. How he went mad, tried to bash my head in, and hurled Mitchell into the pod. He painfully pushes himself up to a sitting position and directs his words to Gale.

“Our next move…is to kill me.”

HOLY CLIFFHANGER, WHAT THE HELL. OH GOD NO. NO. NO, DO NOT DO IT.

This chapter, y’all. THIS CHAPTER.

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
This entry was posted in Mockingjay, The Hunger Games and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

221 Responses to Mark Reads ‘Mockingjay’: Chapter 20

  1. Ishii_Era says:

    Suzanne Collins is

    <img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2w4b5zp.jpg"&gt;
    about our complex and fragile emotional states 🙁

  2. Semalina says:

    PEEEEEEETAAAAAA :'(

  3. aurorabora says:

    You are not prepared. 😮

  4. stellaaaaakris says:

    Yeah, this chapter is intense, but you know what, Mark? You're still not prepared.

    Boggs, NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I really liked you. You were subtly sarcastic. You could appreciate Finnick in his underwear. You were good with kids. You never sold Katniss out and were honest with her. You knew the mission she assigned herself and you told her to complete it with your dying breath. RIP, good sir.

    But you also told her to kill Peeta. Ummmm, what?
    <img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lefsxcQzPx1qf8yek.gif"&gt;

    (Sorry, I deal with my grief through humor.) I'm choosing to believe that his last words were like that awful episode of LOST, you know the one, Expose. What Boggs really said was "Don't kill Peeta." Katniss just couldn't hear it. But all his other instructions started with "dos" and "don'ts" so it makes sense. Yep, totally. Stop trying to convince me otherwise.

    The same goes for you, Peeta. You can't die. Telling the others to kill you so they'd be safe, that sounds like the old you, the one I've been totally crushing on since early in THG. And if you're starting to sound like the old you, that means you're starting to get better, that you're aware of your situation and you can improve. PLEASE. So no more talking of killing you, especially to Gale, okay? Good. Case closed. But try to work on that trigger thing, mkay? I'd like Katniss to stay alive and then we'd have no reason to kill you.

    But I am also sad that Mitchell and his flaring nostrils are now gone from the world 🙁

    • Karen says:

      Telling the others to kill you so they'd be safe, that sounds like the old you, the one I've been totally crushing on since early in THG. And if you're starting to sound like the old you, that means you're starting to get better, that you're aware of your situation and you can improve. PLEASE. So no more talking of killing you, especially to Gale, okay?

      IA. I think that this is the closest we've gotten to Real Peeta since he was rescued from the Capitol. NO PEETA, YOU CAN'T DIE NOW JUST WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE STARTING TO GET BETTER. NOT OK.

    • Clare says:

      As much as I hate that he said it, I can totally understand Boggs telling Katniss to kill Peeta. Their squad has just been hijacked(no pun intended, just for lack of a better word) and two of their team are now dead. They are heading into highly dangerous territory and Peeta has just proved what happens to him when he snaps and he's lethal.

      When so many things can kill you, keeping the wild card that ups those odds doesn't make tactical sense.

      But sheesh, I don't think Katniss could ever do it.

    • Not_Prepared says:

      Hahaha! Ohhh Mitchell and his flaring nostrils… *~missin u~*

  5. Annie says:

    ALL CAPS REVIEW is the only way to properly react to this chapter. Probably one of the darkest (and most violent) ones in Mockingjay.

    Also, Cressida for president, Y/Y?

  6. ThreeBooks says:

    PEEETAAAAAANOOOOOOO

    Yeah, I was listening to this story from my iPod, on audiobook, during a Girl Scout camping thing. At night, in my bunk. And I think this was where I started shaking and whispering, "no, no no no no, no no no, no no no no no no no, no no not cool collins not cool…"

    "Hey, Nikki, you okay?"

    "NOTHING WILL EVER BE OKAY AGAIN!!!" okay that's an exaggeration but you get my point. ;_; WHY BOGGS WHY. WHY PEETA WHY. WWWHHHHHYYYYYYYY.

    (then I started looking through my GIFS for something cute to post, but I found something better.)
    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/2dXVJ.gif"/&gt;

  7. mugglemomof2 says:

    THIS WAVE OF BLACKNESS IS GOING TO COME CRASHING DOWN. THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE CHAPTER OF ALL CHAPTERS EVER TO BE CHAPTERED EVER.
    If I knew how to attach a GIF- this would be where I put the head explosion one in. There was no preparing for this!

    I also call that from this point out we should count how many *keysmashes* Mark unleashes through the rest of the book!

  8. ShiiShii says:

    <img src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n166/Alaska_Girl_16/nonono-1.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Photobucket">
    COLLINS I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN FOR ALL OF THESE RIDICULOUS CLIFFHANGERS. THEY'RE GETTING INCREDIBLY BORING AND ARE NOT CLIMACTIC AT ALL.

    I'm still glad that we got to see some action rather than the ever so popular, "DO SHIT THEN TELL IT IN RETROSPECT" chapter beginnings.

  9. Kari says:

    I think I held my breath reading this chapter, and I did it again while I read this review.

    Poor Boggs..may you rest in peace! (.. i wanted to say "pieces", but thats just wrong)
    Poor Peeta (because obviously it seems that he wasn't able to control his actions and he feels horribly for it)
    Poor Katniss, because, well, nothing good seems to happen to her, at least not for long..
    and poor Katniss's mom and sister.. they've mostly been watching the televised broadcast of her "Death". Ugh!

    Can we get onto happier things..Please??

  10. Inseriousity. says:

    haha they shove peeta into a closet, a trip to narnia will calm him down!

    • Alexis says:

      To be fair, the trip to Narnia did seem to calm him down…I mean, yeah, it made him suicidal but you know…

    • April says:

      and then a talking lion will take them all to Mars.

      AKA: this chapter left me so scared and confused that I once again couldn't put the book down and now have to laugh where I can.

    • Depths_of_Sea says:

      And then Aslan will breath on him and give him a lion's kiss and then he'll be right as rain.

      …someone please write this fic. I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE.

  11. calimie says:

    "HOW CAN ANY OF THIS BE PG-13
    Siriously. This will be a war movie and I'll be crying most of it.

    BOOGGGSS!!

  12. Spugsy says:

    Well we're moving into intense-ville now make no mistake!

  13. bluejay says:

    Too intense for my poor brain. 🙁
    At this point when reading the book for the first time, I was wondering how any of them are going to survive this mess. The Capitol is a giant death trap of terror.

  14. Brimmingfull says:

    LOOK AT ALL THAT CAPSLOCK. IT'S A CAPSLOCK ATTACK ON MRM!!

    And really, there is NO OTHER WAY to deal with all the shit that has gotten so real, it's shiny with authenticity.

  15. christwriter says:

    Suzanne Collins could probably have been a con artist in another life.

    I mean, look at what she's just done. Set everything up so that this chapter will have a strong and devastating impact upon the reader, pushed it as far as it would go, and then bang! made sure you're going to keep on reading any way even though you are tired and stressed out from reading WTF just happened. The sense of timing here is in-freaking credible and she just KEEPS ON DOING IT TO US.

    Bravo. Bravo.

    • Shonarama says:

      She's brilliant at that! I started Hunger Games a few chapters behind Mark, read enough to catch up, and then vowed to follow along *only* reading one chapter a day. Well, that lasted a day. I was so agitated and completely jonesing for the story that I broke down and ordered the next two books to read on my e-reader and devoured them in a weekend. And I hate reading on an e-reader – it hurts my eyes and distorts my sense of "place" in the book. But the library was closed for the next two days and there was *no way* I'd be able to wait that long! By the time I finished the series, I felt like I needed to take a day off work just to process all the stress, anxiety, elation, and terror that I just went through (vicariously, or course!)

  16. Frianna says:

    OH GOD, BOGGS! :´(
    I don't think I can say anything without it being somewhat spoilerish, so I'll just wait.

    Mark, you're not prepared.

  17. RachelHs says:

    HEY MARK, SIT THE FUCK DOWN BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET UP EVER AGAIN AFTER THIS SHIT. I can't even believe people hate this book.

  18. markforpresident says:

    I can sum up my reaction to this chapter in one word:
    *headdesk*
    [URL=http://www.gifsoup.com/view/1683885/headdesk.html][IMG]http://www.gifsoup.com/imager.php?id=1683885&t=o[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://www.gifsoup.com/]GIFSoup[/URL]
    Collins never forgets to be awesome.

  19. SusanBones says:

    I'm really glad that I reread this chapter last night, in spite of the fact that I dreamed about Peeta. 🙂

    I love that Boggs gave Katniss the Holo. That is the best part of this chapter. Then I love the fact that Peeta saw himself on the Capital broadcast. I'm sure the fact that he saw something real, with his own eyes, will help him in his recovery.

    I have to agree that this war has just turned awful. Now it feels like another hunger games.

  20. ohheyitsalliek says:

    I have such an intense love/ hate relationship with these cliffhangers. They are so fantastic on one end and then so AWFUL on the other. Seriously Collins, bravo.

    The pace has picked up again, no?

    Mark. This book is going to continue to get so real. You may even fall out of your chair at one point.

  21. herpestidae says:

    <img src="http://www.gifsoup.com/imager.php?id=2039045&t=o&quot; border="0"/>GIFSoup

    That was me. Through the whole chapter and the rest of the book.

  22. andreah1234 says:

    HOLY SHIT FUCK WHAT WHAT is pretty much me while reading this chapter. I'm glad I'm not alone :D.

    Also, Boggs:
    <img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x427/andreah12345/lionking_cry.gif"&gt;

    WHY DO YOU KEEP HURTING US COLLINS?!?!?!?! WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!??!?!?!
    <img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x427/andreah12345/tumblr_l9qkf6KQ9s1qbz2g8o1_400.gif"&gt;

    WHO HAS TO DIE NOW?!?!??! WHY CAN'T ALL OF THEM LIVE?!?!?! HUH?!?!? WHY?
    <img src="http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x427/andreah12345/tumblr_l9q7j6Ewj41qa8qc7.gif"&gt;

    I CAN'T. I JUST CAN'T. Mark I will hold you in the astral plane. I have the feeling we will all need it.

  23. thefbm says:

    KEYSMASH CHAPTER!!KJHSDKJHSDOIBSOBSHBDJBSOSIOHSIBSISNIOJDBIDBNKSNIDXBPIDJBSJNIDGBSBIYDNDOIDKJBDOIBD

    Yeah I think that settles it and this gif.
    <img src="http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/thefbm42/breathe.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Photobucket">

  24. Fuchsia says:

    ALSO LOL PEETA’S IN THE CLOSET LOL

    ILU forever Mark.

    And I warned you, pretty much every chapter now ends with a cliffhanger. Which is why even on re-reads, I can't put it down between chapters.

    Random gif time to make up for my lack of an insightful, non-spoilery comment!

    <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/kretch1967/gifs/OMG%20ANIMALS/9772_8d49.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Photobucket">

  25. pennylane27 says:

    I offer my compliments on the way you wrote that first part of the review. Made me feel as if I was reading and reacting to this chapter all over again. CAPSLOCK SEMI-COHERENT SENTENCES. I APPROVE. IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS SHIT.
    And damn, Collins is gooood with action scenes. Definitely one of the most intense sections in this book.

    And now I'll practise my self-control by not spoiling the rest of the book for you. It's very difficult.

  26. Integrity1584 says:

    Since the invention of the chapter there have been five chapters that were rated the most violent, the most disturbing. This one left them all behind. The End.

    To make you feel better, enjoy this loveliness. I almost peed my pants laughing the first time I read it.
    http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/image/essay/1

    Click "next" at the bottom of each page for more hilarity.

  27. Cheri says:

    When I first read "mockingjay" I didn't really like it, I read it too fast and none of my predictions came true. But this is why I love reading this with all of you. I am in love with this series and especially this book. When we read it chapter by chapter, I get to see all the things I missed and get to hear everyone's interpertations. Thank you Mark and everyone else for letting me fall in love with this book and all the characters over again! Oh, team Haymitch forever!

    • Gabbie says:

      Question: (I'm watching The Office, don't judge) When people say "team" do they mean they ship them with the main character(Katniss) or that they just love that character? In Twilight it was the former, so I'm all confused now. D: Thanks Twi-Hards, thanks a lot.

      • Cheri says:

        sorry, never read Twilight. I'm not sure what everyone else means, but I meant that Haymitch is my fave character and I would "ship" myself with him, not Katniss! Maybe because I'm in my thirties and not into teenage boys, although I do like Peeta's character.

    • Not_Prepared says:

      That is EXACTLY how I felt! I bought Mockingjay the day of its release and read it all in about 4 hours. It was just…. ugh. I was so sad about how everything turned out. I've read it about 4 times since then, and I'm reading it again now with Mark, and now I really appreciate what a great book it is!

    • notemily says:

      That's how I felt when Mark re-read Harry Potter. Order of the Phoenix always seemed like one of the worst ones, until I re-read it with Mark and noticed how it all hung together and how each chapter was essential to the story. Mark is awesome!

  28. bell_erin_a says:

    So. You know that inevitable point in both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire where all hell breaks loose and it’s impossible to tell what is happening? Welcome to that point of Mockingjay. I still have no idea what just happened, except that shit most definitely got real. That's probably because I haven't slept much for the last week, but, y'know. Incoherence and general delirium. I'm dealing with it.

    I was very entertained by the fact that I scrolled down past the review to the bottom of the page and all I saw was KEYSMASH OMGWTF ALKGHALSKDGHASLDKG NOOOOOOOO. YOU HAVE MOST DEFINITELY CHOSEN THE CORRECT AND ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS CHAPTER.

  29. shortstack930 says:

    “If anyone needs to go back, for whatever reason, now is the time,” I say. “No questions asked, no hard feelings.”

    I liked this part too because unlike the Capitol or District 13, Katniss is giving them a choice.

  30. hilarius11 says:

    Still not prepared. At this point, all any of us know is that it has to get worse before it can get better. How the hell is Collins going to get them out of this?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!
    and now, on an unrelated note, the only person who's allowed to get shot ever again!!! http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/bieber

  31. Randomcheeses says:

    Huh. . . wasn't expecting that.

    OH MY GOD WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!!

    PEETAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

  32. Kaci says:

    Oh, Mark. I share your confusion as to how this is going to be PG-13. There's no way you can show a man in a net of barbed wire or another with his legs blown off without hitting an R rating. I refuse to believe it.

    I'd comment on the rest of it, but I'm so afraid of spoiling you and you're so close to the end that I just would rather sit here biting my nails for you.

    • L_Swann says:

      Well, maybe Mockingjay /will/ be rated R. Doubtful, I know, but I'm pretty sure only THG is guaranteed to be PG-13. Who knows, they might step their game up for the later books. At least, I certainly hope they do.

    • Saber says:

      Im surprised even the HG will be rated PG-13. Don't they have like 14-A or whatever the equivilant is? Between PG-13 and R?

    • Gabbie says:

      Well if we read the books with an image in our minds, I think we could watch it on-screen.

  33. Curiosity Shoppe says:

    ALSO LOL PEETA’S IN THE CLOSET LOL

    Seeing this randomly in the middle of a horrified, all-capsy review like this one was so A+. I LOL'd and LOL'd and LOL'd.

    And then I read the rest of the review and cried. BOOOOGGS. HOOOOOOMES. PEEEEEEETA. 🙁

  34. barnswallowkate says:

    I don't think I want to read Mark Reads Mockingjay anymore. Between the fictional characters' stress and nonfictional Mark's stress I just can't handle it!

  35. RainaWeather says:

    random thoughts:

    Welcome ot the point of no retuen.

    I'm glad Johanna isn't here because I want her to live and I predict people on this mission will DIE.

    Mark, how can you make that joke about Peeta in the closet in the middle of all this? I envy you.

    OH GOD. MITCHELL'S DEATH! WHAT THE FUCK?!

    I like Jackson. Even though she didn't believe Katniss at first, once she realizes Katniss is telling the truth (sort of) there are no hard feelings.

    In fact, I like this whole team.

  36. Lauren says:

    Do you ever wonder if, while writing these, Collins knew most of her readers would be reading them in one or two sittings? I did and the effect made these RIDIKULUSLEE intense parts of the books even more confusing and intense! By the time I always go to them it would be after midnight and I was starting to feel sleep-deprived and a bit delirious which added SO MUCH to the overall feeling I had when I was reading them. IDK if she did that intentionally, but I venture to say that it was probably a side effect for most of the people that read them very quickly.

    • RainaWeather says:

      I'm definitely an after-midnight reader. It makes for an interesting experience to feel delirious while reading about a character who is delirious. Sometimes in that state i have to read the same sentence over and over and it just adds to the overall effect and makes the story that much better. It really brings me into the story and makes me never want to put the book down.

    • Depths_of_Sea says:

      When I read Mockingjay I stayed up until three in the morning to finish, so I get what you're feeling. Your brain starts to get a little fuzzy and you have to re-read parts because they didn't make sense and you couldn't comprehend what was going on anyway, which puts you in the exact right frame of mind to sympathize with Katniss because she doesn't have a clue what the hell is going on either.

      INTENSE man. Intense.

  37. MadarFoxfire says:

    Screamin' for eternity. I was just pure jfirhagjshrg WHAT for this bit EVERYTHING IS GOING TO HELL IN AN EYEBLINK AND THEN TWO SECONDS LATER IT'S DOUBLE HELLLLLL.

  38. Someone needs to make a GIF of the scary gooey black wave in Little Nemo for this. SUPREME LORD OF EVERYTHING BUTTERCUP DEMANDS THIS GIF! ….and a little saucer of milk, please.

    • theresa1128429 says:

      I'm glad that SLOE Buttercup is back in 13 in Johanna's lap for all of this. Wouldn't want them getting hurt. And yes, we need that GIF NOW!

      • calimie says:

        Oh, yes, I'm so happy Johanna is safe through all this. I wish all of them were back home and not invading the Capitol.

  39. BradSmith5 says:

    I don't understand this. Why would they have been stopping to film if they knew enemy surveillance cameras were covering that street? And wouldn't an EMP shut down everything––including the remote control traps and the holo? WHY is Peeta going berserk now after all of his progress? I have no idea how this story can be resolved in a coherent way either; none of this makes any sense.

    • theupsides says:

      It makes sense that Peeta would freak out in a moment of extreme chaos. His mental state is very fragile. I think he belongs in a psychiatric ward, you know? He needs to be treated by doctors and monitored carefully until he's okay again. But what does he get instead, after being tortured? He's thrown into a war zone. I can see how that can completely botch the progress he was making.

      • BradSmith5 says:

        I think it's just the 'trying to murder Katniss at the drop of a hat' part that I have trouble with. The confusion, questioning, freaking out––that I get. I'd be convinced even without being told he was drugged. But Peeta has never been murderous, even when faced with an enemy. Is it really that easy to override someone's moral values? I don't know, Upsides, I just don't know.

        • Mauve_Avenger says:

          I think you may be forgetting that Peeta tried to strangle her to death during their reunion in District 13.

          He's been subjected to both classical conditioning that makes him respond to Katniss with fear and anger and a modified form of hypnotic suggestion that makes him think that Katniss is 1) not really human and 2) probably trying to kill him.

          So he sees Katniss at a time when people around him are getting shot at or getting their legs blown off, reinforcing the idea that Katniss is a source of fear. And because of the suggestive-reprogramming due to the wasp venom, the idea of Katniss being a source of fear is closely connected to the idea that she a mutt who wants to kill him. (Note that Peeta stabbed one of the wolf mutts that was attacking him in the first arena.) Then Peeta gets attacked for attacking Katniss, further reinforcing the idea that bad things happen to him because of Katniss.

          Which also means that not only is it dangerous for Peeta to be there, it's actually making his condition a lot worse.

  40. theupsides says:

    I was really starting to like Boggs, and now he's dead. LESSON LEARNED. NEVER LIKE THESE CHARACTERS. EVER.

    Peeta's situation is maybe the worst, ever. He's not even control of himself. He goes into a RAGE, and then he has to come back to himself and realize what he has done. How is he supposed to live with himself after that? I never needed more reasons to hate the Capitol, but what they've done to Peeta is so hard to read, it constantly renews my hatred for Snow.

  41. HanLin says:

    My. Brain. Can. Not. Handle.

    Why is everything a giant black hole of "OH NO SHE DIDN'T JUST (insert awful thing here. Kill Boggs *sobs forever*, Turn Peeta into a crazy Katniss-killing machine, ruin all that is good in life, etc)"

  42. FlameRaven says:

    Never prepared.

  43. Puel says:

    And now comes the part of Mockingjay where we stop making thoughtful observations about oppression and war in the comments and start keysmashing and posting gifs instead, because words cannot express how awful this all is.

    My contribution:

    alksjdflkajsdlfkajslfjasflakhkfhaslkfjahsldkfhalskdhfalksf

  44. Wakfi says:

    Having already read the book, I was pretty sure I was prepared for this chapter. I wasn't. I forgot how GODDAMN HORRIBLE EVERYTHING IS.
    And about the movies. I can see THG being PG-13, easy. I can see CF as PG-13 too. But there is no way that MJ can be PG-13. The good news is, by the time the MJ movie comes out, I should be old enough to see it, even if it is R! Yay!

  45. ParanoidAndroid says:

    ASDFKDIJOSJKSDKJDSFAJK 9ROT-RDWQ WHAAAAAAAT? MIND=BLOWN. I HAVE NEVER BEEN PREPARED.
    [img ]http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100828054703/uncyclopedia/images/b/b5/Exploding-head.gif[/img]

  46. lisra says:

    Yet another climax and by far the most intense one so far. So many things going on,so much violence and death.

    But what is really going on? No one knows, least of all Katniss, yet people still follow.. it is a bit hard to swallow, but then, what else is there to do.

    This is gonna suck. Real hard.

  47. @knouffm says:

    This was the chapter where I really wanted to stop reading. This whole book is incredibly harsh, but by this point I was just like MAKE DEATH AND WAR STOP PLEASE.

  48. Lala says:

    This was basically my expression in this chapter.
    <img src="http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx195/thatgirlmorgan/GIFS/WhAT-1.gif&quot; border="0" alt="WHAT Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Then the tears came.
    <img src="http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx195/thatgirlmorgan/GIFS/WhAT-1.gif&quot; border="0" alt="WHAT Pictures, Images and Photos"/>

    Why must you crush our souls Collins?!?

  49. Wait, wait, are you sure you're reading the right book? This is supposed to be where Boggs gets robot legs.

    • zuzu says:

      IKR, he's reading the wrong thing because Boggs clearly becomes Lieutenant Dan with robot legs from space. I'm really sad Mark hasn't mentioned the hospital scene where Finnick, dressed only in sexy underwear, brings him all the ice cream he wants.

  50. thatonegirl says:

    THIS IS THE MOST INTENSE CHAPTER OF ALL CHAPTERS EVER TO BE CHAPTERED EVER.

    There's nothing to add to that. And if there is another chapter that is more intense I don't want to read it.
    Yet.

    Ok I'm ready now. Also has anyone else noticed that if there are 27 chapters in this book, the last chapter will post on a Monday? (not that I'm, you know, keeping track or anything) Maybe the review fairy could bring one extra review somewhere in there so that it could end on a Friday instead. And we could have the whole weekend to recover. y/y?

  51. Moxobee says:

    Not even a little prepared. Not even pre-prepared.

    I like how Snow and Coin are 2 sides of the same, er, coin. They are equally ruthless in their methods and have proven more motivated by power-lust than any concern for the citizens of Panem. Now they both would be equally happy to have Katpee dead, each believing their deaths to be great propaganda opportunities for their own sides of the war. To the Capitol, a dead Mockingjay signals the death of the heart of the rebellion. To the rebels, it’s fuel to the fire of rage that drives them on against their oppressors.

    On a lighter note: hee, Peeta’s in the closet!

  52. Doodle says:

    PEETA D:

    Try to prepare yourself…it only gets more and more horrible from here on out! =[

  53. feminerdist says:

    This is the point where I'm not sure if I want to relive the rest of the book with you or not.

    Of course I will…but well you know. I mean, this chapter was so traumatic!

  54. monkeybutter says:

    The wave has crested and begun to fall.

    <img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/oubkaq.gif"&gt;

    Maybe they can swing a PG13 by keeping the camera off of Boggs' blood-spurting stumps? I dunno, this is some Saving Private Ryan kinda shit. It'll definitely be the hardest of the three to film if they keep this scene in.

  55. lisra says:

    I really could have phrased that better.

  56. stellaaaaakris says:

    Hehe In high school, I was in the band and our director was explaining to us how we should play crescendo. I wasn't really listening because I already understood what I had to do, but his words slowly made their way into my brain. He saying something along the lines of, "It should get louder and louder and you should hit the notes harder and harder until you can't take it anymore and then BANG! It's done…."

    Oh, the looks and snickers we all exchanged.

  57. Baz says:

    Despite all the horrors in this story, I see a (very tiny) silver lining. Wait, wait, before I start thinking about all the blood dripping out of poor Boggs's legs (oh god whyyyyy?!?!?). I think it's SO AWESOME that he passed the Holo. Someone trusting her? Someone realizing that there is a point to all this bloodshed beyond a new president (who might be just as bad as Snow, just in a different way. I'm looking at you, Coin). I think it's awesome. I think his warning to Katniss was pretty amazing, too. I think he genuinely cares about her and is trying to look after her even if he's gone. If Coin's real motive for sending Peeta to their group was to kill Katniss, who knows who else was in on that? I've never really trusted people from 13, and this totally freaked me out, but I'm SO GLAD Boggs warned her so she can be on her guard instead of just going with the flow! BUT NOW SHE HAS THE HOLO AND KNOWS TO KEEP WATCH ON THE REST OF THE GROUP TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T KILL HER IN HER SLEEP–THIS IS A TOTAL IMPROVEMENT Y/Y/Y/Y!!!!!!

    And Peeta, as much as it breaks my heart to hear you suggest the group kill you, I'm so glad that it came from seeing what a monster you've become and having that disgust you. I HAVE ALL THE HOPES THAT YOU WILL LIVE AND GET BETTER OR AT LEAST STOP KILLING PEOPLE!!!!!!!

    So….blood, gore, confusion, horrors, but….maybe just a tiny tiny tiny inkling that at least one thing might go right? Maybe? Please??

  58. zuzu says:

    DON’T CRY, MARK. DON’T FUCKING CRY.

    But you did cry didn't you?

    Also I couldn't not think Umbridge when I saw that. You might want to consider doing AVPS after this to cheer you up. *hint hint*

    • Gabbie says:

      I actually found out there was a sequel to AVPM as I was reading Mockingjay (right? or was that the play… I'm not sure.) so that helped a lot.

    • erin says:

      Lmao. "I remember when I was a young human. Tears would flow from my eyeballs all the time!"

  59. Depths_of_Sea says:

    A+ usage of all capslock in the beginning of the review, Mark.

    Gah. I've already read the book and this part is still horrifying and painful and all kinds of awful.

    Someone hold me? Please?

  60. Hoshi says:

    You will never be prepared Mark. 🙁

  61. Saber says:

    Screw it, even if Mockingjay's rated R I'm going to see it. My first R rated movie in theaters.

  62. Gabbie says:

    ~BACK IN DISTRICT 13~
    Prim: K-Katniss…? :'( *hugs mother*
    Annie: … *freaks out*
    Johanna: … *freaks out*
    Haymitch: … *freaks out*
    Coin: oh hai the mockingjay finally died 🙂 yayz lets party by being boring and kicking puppies cuz were 13

  63. Not_Prepared says:

    I met Suzanne Collins at her MJ book signing and I'm starting to regret not demanding she rewrite the book so everything is all *~happy~* and shtufff….

    Less death, more frosting sailboats!!!

  64. Silverilly says:

    It seems to be neither liquid or gas,
    BLACK PENSIEVE.

    ALSO LOL PEETA’S IN THE CLOSET LOL
    LOL YOU ARE LIKE A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD MARK I LOVE YOU.

    “If anyone needs to go back, for whatever reason, now is the time,” I say. “No questions asked, no hard feelings.”
    SHE'S LIKE HARRY POTTER, AMIRITE?

    WHAT WILL HAPPEN. WHO WILL LIVE. WHO WILL DIE. WHO WILL KATNISS CHOOSE. HOW MANY MORE HARRY POTTER REFERENCES CAN WE MAKE. WHAT'S FOR DINNER.

    Oh, Mark. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you thought you were prepared, didn't you?
    Well, you weren't.
    And you're still not.
    DILL WITH IT.
    <img src="http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/1/3/0/2/0/1/7/1/orig-13020171.jpg&quot; alt="DILL WITH IT">

  65. t09yavorski says:

    I'm saving my comments for spoiler free times but until then Mark:

    <img src="http://www.lionking.org/images/animated/scar%20singing.gif"&gt;

    Be Prepared.

  66. notemily says:

    It is a bit hard to swallow. Also it's gonna suck real hard.

  67. finnickodair says:

    I can't. I just can not.

  68. karadudz says:

    This is way too much for a normal person to handle.

    – We "saw" Boggs get his legs bombed off literally a millisecond after the group has fun pretending to do war stuff for the shoot.
    – How really dangerous the pods are.
    – Peeta at his craziest mutt self
    – Cressida supporting Katniss when Katniss' plan is made up….
    – Peeta offering to die

    AND THERE'S JUST SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING that when you read it you have to read it more than once because you definitely skipped over words or lines…. and then the second, third, fourth time you read it you're just bawling because it's just too much to handle.

    Even if you've read this book…. And If you still haven't finished the book….

    WE WILL NEVER BE PREPARED

  69. Quizzical says:

    JUST WHEN YOU THINK THERE COULDN'T BE A MORE HANGERY CLIFFHANGER SHE DOES IT AGAIN! DDD:

  70. Elise says:

    Can we get a slow-down-dumbledore-explains-it-all-chapter up in this book??

    Collins: no, sorry. deal w/ it

  71. vampira2468 says:

    Hate cliffhangers . So much going on

  72. Cally says:

    UGHH! THIS CHAPTER!

    What are you DOING TO US COLLINS?! She is Darth Vader and we are the goats
    <img src=http://i.imgur.com/yTeun.gif>
    She's like, 'Haha, you feel safe? You do? Let me go ahead and blow your mind with all things AWFUL!"

    Siriusly, this chapter was all awful things ever and all the hope was sucked out of everything!
    <img src=http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh3iu4pldS1qam6ydo1_500.gif>

    Peeta
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgtu6m5Em21qcayy9.gif>
    I know everything is all the sad right now, and you just killed someone and it was terrible, but PLEASE DON'T SAY YOU WANT TO DIE! IT HURTS MY HEART!
    <img src=http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh3bx3L0OS1qebmmc.gif>

    • erin says:

      Hahaha omg what happened to those goats??!?

      • Simone says:

        They're fainting goats! Best animals ever! They faint when scared, in order to save the rest of the herd from predators. They're amazingly awesome.

    • Gabbie says:

      LOL I wanna be a fainting goat!!!

      Friend: *talking 'bout sumpin*
      Stranger: Hey little girls… *holds out lollipop*
      Me: *flops over, fainted*

      Yeah.

  73. Cam says:

    Mark, if you have time, could this be a 2 review day? Pretty please?

  74. booksinbulk says:

    What I love most about this chapter, and Collins in general, is that she isn't afraid to have shit get real. JUST like in real life. I mean, if there is a war, people DIE. It's harsh, and it sucks, and it's really, really sad. And, she's really great at writing action. I like that the deaths happen SUPER fast and you almost have to re-read it because you're like…wait…what?! And that's how real battle would be. You wouldn't get a slow, drawn out time to witness people dying, and so she doesn't write it that way. Just like JKR, who writes Lupin and Tonks' deaths "off screen", because even though Harry is the focus, he's obviously not going to witness each and every death in a battle like that. It's perfect. Unlike some authors, SMEYER cough cough, who decide battles are actually events that take place on pretty fields, wherein the people just chat it out and everyone goes home nice and pretty and EVEN BETTER THAN BEFORE!!! SMILES AND RAINBOWS!!

    gag.

  75. erin says:

    WHAT THE HELL. WHAT IN THE EVERLIVING FUCK IS GOING ON THIS IS SO HORRIBLE I DON'T EVEN.

    Lol Peeta's in the closet lol

    OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING

    In my mind, got turned into:

    SIRIUS BLAAAAAACK! SIRIUS BLAAAAAAAAA-

    Oh, checkmate!

    SIRIUS BLAAAAAAAAAAACK!

  76. Captain Anarchy says:

    This is what Susanne Collins thinks of the happiness in the world.
    <img class='event-item-lol-image' src='http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mondaysp1.gif&#039; title="Mondays Gif – Mondays?" alt="Mondays Gif – Mondays?" height="212px" width="500px" />see more Gifs
    She must really hate us.
    This chapter has too much sads. We need an adorable gif.
    <img class='event-item-lol-image' src='http://chzgifs.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/pandamoniump1.gif&#039; title="Panda-Monium Gif – Panda-Monium " alt="Panda-Monium Gif – Panda-Monium " />see more Gifs

  77. Shanella says:

    I LOVE ALL CAP REVIEWS!

    I did not remember all the things that happened in this chapter. I think my brain shut down after Boggs.

  78. Arione says:

    No, nonoono no no no no no no no no no no no onobobo no no! I can’t be dealing with this not this morning. DamnitdamnitDAMNIT! I just watched BURIED last night and had a sobtremble breakdown until 3am, now I wake up from nightmares to this?! NoNO! To much overlead death on the insides. He’s gotta be hallucinating, I’m hallucinating…

    Sometimes I wish that my emotional involvement with fictional narratives was less involved? I may start losing my hair.

  79. Revolution64 says:

    This chapter:
    <img src="http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy253/soul_rocketeer/scared.gif"&gt;
    (Also, I love your tags at the beginning, "so fucked up" and "awful".)

  80. Meghan says:

    This is what I hear in my head when I read Mark's comments (this is hilarious):
    [youtube loSzpvq73FY&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loSzpvq73FY&feature=player_embedded youtube]

    • qwopisinthemailbox says:

      I LOVE THIS VIDEO. MY FRIEND SHOWED ME IT A WHILE BACK, WHICH LED TO ME SUBSCRIBING TO ANOTHER LET'S PLAYER ON YOUTUBE. this game is horrifying btw. gives me nightmares. never going to play it.

  81. Kal says:

    I'm not sure how to get to say this without sounding like a cyberstalker, so I'll just go for it:

    I remember a while ago you mentioned how ableism was something you'd become interested in learning more about as you were confronted with the slightly ableist language of Collins' writing. You've also mentioned how you've recently moved to Oakland, so I thought you might be interested in a panel at UC Berkeley on disability and sexuality. It's sponsored by the kickass Female Sexuality program at Cal, and I dunno, I thought of this site when I found out about tonight (yeah, I swear I'm not a creeper). Anyways, if anyone in the Bay Area is interested its Wed March 16, 4-6pm. (I feel kinda skeevy now.)

    I have nothing nonspoilery to say on the rest of Mockingjay. You are not prepared seems like a bit of an obvious understatement, so perhaps I'll just post a link to a lovely rendition of the Doom Song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcn_TPu4qQ…yeah

  82. LyttleBird says:

    SPOILER: IN THE FINAL CHAPTER IT TURNS OUT THAT PRESIDENT SNOW IS KATNISS'S FATHER WHO SURVIVED THE MINE COLLAPSE AND WAS BRAINWASHED WITH TRACKER JACKERS AND SURGICALLY ALTERED IN THE CAPITAL BUT SHE HEALS HIM WITH THE POWER OF HER LOVE AND THE WAR IS OVER. AND ALSO THERE IS CAKE.

    Okay, now you know how it ends and you can put down the book, right? Just put down the book, Mark. Step away from the book. Because I don't think you're prepared.

  83. curiousGirl says:

    you know, even reading this book a second time- I'm still not prepared. And so are you.

  84. trash_addict says:

    DON’T CRY, MARK. DON’T FUCKING CRY.

    Skins reference? Niiiiice.

    I found this review to be a very accurate reflection of my own internal monologue reading this chapter. EVERYTHING IS AWFUL. Apart from Katniss now having the Holo. EVERYTHING ELSE IS AWFUL.

  85. sdempster1016 says:

    Ah yes, we are now entering the part of the book where I ceased to read and instead was scanning as fast as I could and picking out certain plot related words from each page because OH MY GOD I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AND READING A REGULAR PACE IS TOO SLOW.

    Also, as I'm sure you've heard countless times, YOU ARE NOT PREPARED AND YOU NEVER EVER WILL BE.

  86. dani says:

    still not prepared

  87. Ashley says:

    Is it a cruel sort of irony that I first read your comment:

    "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. WE CAN NEVER HAVE NICE THIGHS AGAIN."

  88. Gigantopithecus says:

    …complicated out-of-control events complicated by even more out-of-control emotions are complicated… o-o;

    SO MANY CAPS.

  89. I am not certain the place you are getting your info, but good topic. I must spend a while studying more or working out more. Thank you for wonderful info I was searching for this info for my mission.

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