After reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I was inspired to reread the Hunger Games trilogy. I was amazed by how much I forgot or misremembered. Then again, my last exposure to this world was probably the movies. :)

I still love these books so much!!

2.5 Stars
Mockingjay is the final book of a trilogy I have very mixed feelings for, so it makes sense that I neither like nor dislike this book. I wish it was better, but I'm not disappointed as I learned too much about it before reading to be disappointed. The only two things I liked about the previous books, the Games and Katniss' kickbutt personality, no longer exist in this book. Mockingjay is no longer about Katniss' fight for survival in the Games; it's about war. Some people love these kinds of bleak, hopeless books. I, who would rather not read a near-400 page war account, don't.

There are much worse games to play.

Ultimately, my dissatisfaction is not the book's fault. It's my fault. Mockingjay centers around war, hopelessness, and loss. Katniss is almost unbearably depressed all the time. It's relatively slow-paced and everything happens in the last 50 pages, which leaves us with a rushed conclusion. And was that epilogue really necessary? Though I didn't exactly hate everything about this book and got rather emotional in the last few pages, I am left with a feeling of hollowness and not-caring, which is actually how Katniss felt 99% of the time. 

Read the full review @ my Goodreads.

I've missed a lot of round ups this year so thought I should post at least a couple before the end of the year.

Just the 10 reads for me this month, but only 1 comic was included so that's a plus.

Yearly Reading Challenge update - 122/140

Read in November - 10

Audio - 0

Novels/novella/short stories - 9

Comics/Graphic novels - 1

5*

4.5*

4*

3.5*

3*

Just gearing up for the end of the year now, I'm pretty much done with my Christmas shopping and only have to post a couple of presents off to Oz for friends. 

I'm working this Christmas which is shit and I've noted in my recent pay that it has STILL not been sorted which now makes it 6 months of management pissing around. 

In all honesty I don't think I can stay there full time anymore, I've really hit my limit and the frustration of several elements is driving me insane. 

Next year will bring a few changes work wise but I'm not quite sure what that will be at the moment. 

I'm off on leave at the moment and tomorrow I'm taking Boo to the vet to have her neutered so I'm feeling a little anxious about her having an anaesthetic. I'm sure Suzy will love this as it will give her several hours of peace and quiet.

The 3rd and last instalment to the series sees Katniss in District 13. She is the 'Mockingjay' a symbol of the rebellion against the Capital. A group of rebel soldiers including Gale and a severely traumatised Peeta are with Katniss for a PR promo when they get pulled into the Capital and a new 'arena'.
A very fast read that I enjoyed a lot but left me thinking that Katniss is a deeply unlikeable person on so many levels. I got a little fed up of her always wanting to be the martyr, imagining that everything happened because of her or her actions, completely forgetting that people have their own agency.
That being said I still enjoyed this a lot but less so than the other books.