"Few new novels have been as eagerly awaited, here and America, as the third part of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games... What makes Collins's novels so absorbing and engaging is the way she tells her tale. There have been a number of outstanding dystopian fantasies emerging from America, but The Hunger Games is the most profoundly imagined, nightmarish, romantic, psychologically plausible and well-written. You can't stop reading, once begun... The Hunger Games trilogy is more than just a very clever futuristic thriller. It's quite possibly the best SF novel for teenagers since Huxley's Brave New World"

Amanda Craig, The Times

"At its best the trilogy channels the political passion of 1984, the memorable violence of A Clockwork Orange, the imaginative ambience of The Chronicles of Narnia and the detailed inventiveness of Harry Potter. The specifics of the dystopian universe, and the fabulous pacing of the complicated plot, give the books their strange, dark charisma."

The Scotsman

"It's seldom that children's books are so eagerly anticipated... The dystopian world conjured up in Collins' Hunger Games series has taken the teenaged reading world by storm and the final part of her trilogy is a blistering and brutal winner."

Lancashire Evening Post

"All in all, Mockingjay confirms what we've suspected already - The Hunger Games isn't just a powerful saga about a unique, memorable hero struggling to do the right thing in the public gaze. It's also an important work of science fiction that everyone should read, because if you don't, you'll be left out of all the best conversations."

io9.com

"Love, loss, heartbreak, the futility of war, the search for freedom and human resilience all play leading roles in this compelling and sometimes shocking story. Mockingjay does not disappoint...an epic and emotionally powerful conclusion to a momentous series."

The Visitor

"Bringing the story of the dystopian world of Panem to a close, Mockingjay is a remarkably strong book - a rare quality in the final instalment of a teen trilogy these days... Unlike similar attempts, Mockingjay doesn't hit the reader over the head with its message but is instead a startling and refreshingly honest look at the reality and long term effects of war. A challenging, powerful and remarkably intelligent read that will stay with you; definitely not just your average teen novel."

Total Sci-Fi Online

"My god, what an end to the series! I really don't know what to say. I absolutely loved it, and I think Suzanne Collins is just a genius. This has got to be one of the best series ever written."

Once Upon a Bookcase

"This is a thrilling conclusion to a very good series of novels that will engage readers of all ages."

Socialist Worker

"This is hard hitting novel. It felt as though Suzanne Collins had taken The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, baked them in the oven leaving the end result more mystifying, more emotionally shocking than its predecessors... What happens to Katniss here blew my mind away... the steps the Capitol will take to squash the Mockingjay means you need to block out time in your schedule to read this in one sitting."

Nayu's Reading Corner

"I got an early look at a book I've been eagerly awaiting: CATCHING FIRE , the sequel to Suzanne Collins' phenomenal THE HUNGER GAMES . It not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It's just as exciting as THE HUNGER GAMES, but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters, you've already suffered with them. Suzanne takes the story places I wasn't expecting, and she's never afraid to take it to very hard places. Stunning. You won't sleep when you're reading this one. It hits shelves September 1st. I suggest beginning in the early morning and clearing your calendar for the day."

Stephenie Meyer, author of the multi-million-selling Twilight Saga
www.stepheniemeyer.com

"Set to follow Twilight as the next big book craze. It's already getting the Hollywood treatment."

Heat Magazine

"If you are looking for something to grip your kids after an orgy of Xbox, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is it... Plunge in because this is rip-roaring, bare-knuckle adventure of the best kind, and destined to be an even bigger hit than Stephenie Meyer's Twilight.... It would be giving away too much to describe all the twists this absorbing and morally challenging novel throws up, but it is a real humdinger that adults, too, would love. In the renewed debate about why boys aren't reading, The Hunger Games would be the perfect antidote - if only schools had the wit to choose it for a class reader."

The Times

"Suzanne Collins's THE HUNGER GAMES is a brilliantly imagined dystopian novel about the ultimate television reality game for teens…"

Daily Telegraph

"Suzanne Collins' plot rattles along with plenty of action and suspense. It's only a matter of time before the movie version follows."

News of the World

"Terrifying, Exhilarating and unexpectedly thought-provoking."

Sunday Telegraph

"What elevates Suzanne Collins's novel is her ability to build and sustain tension… This is a fine entry into the canon of post-apocalyptic brutality fiction."

Financial Times

"Many teenage novels can be stuffed full of wonderfully exciting high-concept ideas, then run the risk of being let down by the actual writing. No fear of that here, Collin's prose is as punchy and energetic as her plot… The equally exciting sequel proves that this particular series has set a remarkably high bar for all other genre adventure serials."

The Scotsman

"Almost every new novel for teenagers now makes some reference to vampires thanks to Twilight, and far too many are dismal copies of it. One that isn't remotely soppy and appeals equally to boys as to girls is Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games… the stunning action sequences and the cleverness of concept and execution give this a haunting philosophical complexity and make it my book of the year."

Amanda Craig

"Collins is a no-nonsense writer… dry humour, pacy, tight and tense, this book is a real page turner."

The Book Bag

"Best of all remains THE HUNGER GAMES, with its moving, vivid and consistently well written dystopian adventure about the ultimate Reality TV game. With its unforgettable heroine, this is an outstanding book for both genders that grips like a man-trap."

The Times

"It's no wonder that film producers can't wait to get their hands on The Hunger Games... Because the dystopian world conjured up by the remarkable Suzanne Collins is guaranteed to blow away the minds of cinemagoers the world over…Full of heart-stopping action and terrifying violence, just ripe for big screen treatment, The Hunger Games books are also life lessons… With a plot twist at the end of every chapter and a relentless pace that keeps the nerves tingling without over-egging the action, The Hunger Games are a masterclass in suspense fiction."

Lancashire Evening Press

"A brilliant slice of sci-fi dystopia… possibly the most exciting book I've read all year."

Author Keith Grey, Young Scottish Book Trust

"Ms Collins has written her readers Ã�¢ï¿½ï¿½ quite brilliantly Ã�¢ï¿½ï¿½ into an uncomfortable conflict… Book 2 is a Must." ****

Books for Keeps

"A brilliantly imagined dystopian novel about the ultimate television reality game for teens."

Amanda Craig, Daily Telegraph"

"A totally awesome book... Unputdownable and a must-read!"

Teen Titles Book Review Magazine

"Collins's fluent style and imagination shape a futuristic tale about contemporary issues."

Irish Times

"A superb slice of sci-fi dystopia... Collins's prose is as punchy and energetic as her plot, making for a gripping, powerful read."

The Scotsman

"Best of all remains THE HUNGER GAMES, with its moving, vivid and consistently well written dystopian adventure about the ultimate Reality TV game. With its unforgettable heroine, this is an outstanding book for both genders that grips like a man-trap."

The Times

"People often ask me for reading suggestions, and I'm always happy to share because books are exciting things to me. My latest excitement is this: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I was so obsessed with this book I had to take it with me out to dinner and hide it under the edge of the table so I wouldn't have to stop reading. The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it. I've been recommending it to total strangers in Target. And now to everyone who reads my website. The Hunger Games is amazing."

Stephenie Meyer, author of the multi-million-selling Twilight Saga, has recommended The Hunger Games to fans on her website www.stepheniemeyer.com

"As negative Utopias go, Suzanne Collins has created a dilly. The United States is gone. North America has become Panem, a TV-dominated dictatorship run from a city called the Capitol. The rest of Panem is divided into 12 Districts (the former 13th had the bad judgment to revolt and no longer exists). The yearly highlight in this nightmare world is the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show in which 24 teenagers chosen by lottery - two from each District - fight each other in a desolate environment called the "arena." The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only "unspoken rule" is that you can't eat the dead contestants. Let's see the makers of the movie version try to get a PG-13 on this baby.

Our heroine is Katniss Everdeen (lame name, cool kid), a resident of District 12, which used to be Appalachia. She lives in a desperately poor mining community called the Seam, and when her little sister's name is chosen as one of the contestants in the upcoming Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. A gutsy decision, given the fact that District 12 hasn't produced a Hunger Games winner in 30 years or so, making them the Chicago Cubs of the postapocalypse world. Complicating her already desperate situation is her growing affection for the other District 12 contestant, a clueless baker's son named Peeta Mellark. Further complicating her situation is her sorta-crush on her 18-year-old hunting partner, Gale. Gale isn't clueless; Gale is smoldering. Says so right on page 14.

The love triangle is fairly standard teen-read stuff; what 16-year-old girl wouldn't like to have two interesting guys to choose from? The rest of The Hunger Games, however, is a violent, jarring speed--rap of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense and may also generate a fair amount of controversy. I couldn't stop reading, and once I got over the main character's name (Gale calls her Catnip - ugh), I got to like her a lot. And although "young adult novel" is a dumbbell term I put right up there with "jumbo shrimp" and "airline food" in the oxymoron sweepstakes, how many novels so categorized feature one character stung to death by monster wasps and another more or less eaten alive by mutant werewolves? I say more or less because Katniss, a bow-and-arrow Annie Oakley, puts the poor kid out of his misery before the werewolves can get to the prime cuts.

Collins is an efficient no-nonsense prose stylist with a pleasantly dry sense of humor. Reading The Hunger Games is as addictive (and as violently simple) as playing one of those shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway. Balancing off the efficiency are displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults. When Katniss needs burn cream or medicine for Peeta, whom she more or less babysits during the second half of the book, the stuff floats down from the sky on silver parachutes. And although the bloody action in the arena is televised by multiple cameras, Collins never mentions Katniss seeing one. Also, readers of Battle Royale (by Koushun Takami), The Running Man, or The Long Walk (those latter two by some guy named Bachman) will quickly realize they have visited these TV badlands before.

But since this is the first novel of a projected trilogy, it seems to me that the essential question is whether or not readers will care enough to stick around and find out what comes next for Katniss. I know I will. But then, I also have a habit of playing Time Crisis until all my quarters are gone."

Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly Online

"As close to a perfect adventure novel as I've ever read."

Rick Riordan, author of The Percy Jackson series and The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

"Enthralling, imaginative and creepy."

Los Angeles Times

"Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like "Survivor" and "Gladiator."

School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW