Mockingjay By Suzanne Collins (3.5/5) *Spoilers*

This book was one of my most eagerly anticipated novels of the year, and I don't mean that lightly! Ever since I first read The Hunger Games this world and Katniss's life have been a part of my consciousness. A lot of fans of these books found themselves categorising themselves into either Team Peeta or Team Gale. I wasn't among the people who found the need to do this. I didn't mind who Katniss ended up with in the end of the trilogy, as long as it was written in a way that I found believable. So with this in mind I eagerly tore into the book the day it arrived and read it in large chunks whenever I had the time. It turned out I “had the time” whilst I was riding in a car, avoiding sleep at 2:30am and walking around shopping with friends (Read Walking is not advised to amateurs, it can result in collisions with other shoppers, poles, doors, etc. You have been warned) I also read in a restaurant, when I should have been focusing on the menu, or on the conversational skills of my friends. Alas! I did not do either of these things, I balanced the book on my knee and soldiered on.

With this little insight to my reading habits I hope, dear reader, that you can begin to understand how melancholy I became when I realised I was a little disappointed at the end of the book. Collins writing style was still wonderful and addictive, and I still found it very difficult to put the book down, as I discussed above, but something seemed to be missing. The entire book was building up to the destruction of The Capitol, and yet when it happened it seemed to be over in an instant. The entire mood of the book was one of sadness, grief and missed chances. I understand in a book about a doomed futuristic society this is to be expected, but Katniss spent a lot of the book being mentally unstable, and it is quite difficult to follow a story from the perspective of such a person. I just wanted to reach in there and help her, but obviously the fact that she is a fictional character prevented this. : ) The third book in this trilogy read more like a sequence of events than the other two, the first two books had me reeling and this one affected me less. So much time is spent describing misery and violence and the quality dialogue and emotional depth between the main characters seems to have been lost.

This is the part of the the review which will contain spoilers, there wasn't really a way I could write one without any. The entire ending was a little bit off for me, once an author starts killing about 80% of the characters I tend to lose interest, I don't know why it's just something that happens with me, when the shock of sudden character death wears off I start to regard new deaths with the equivalent of a shrug of my shoulders. This isn't to say that it didn't make me very sad for Katniss, but I wasn't as affected as a reader as much as I could have been. The ending, as portrayed in the epilogue, just seemed like a little bit of a depressing 'sigh' in my opinion. Katniss ended up with Peeta, this wasn't a problem, as I had already stated I didn't really have a preference, but she still didn't really get a happily ever after. It seemed that they became a couple because there were no other options, which is not really a healthy reason for a relationship. He had spent pretty much the whole book thinking she was an evil murdering monster, and she concluded that he had changed into a rude, arrogant evil meanie who would never love her. This changed pretty much just before the epilogue where they seemed to shrug and decide to end up together, though accept that they would never be truly happy. If an ending is sad then I accept that it is sad, disappointing happy endings are another matter, they leave me feeling blue. Basically the two of them end up having only each other and a drunk Haymitch. Katniss never sees her oldest friend Gale again and her mother can't bear to see her very often. Um, Yay? They won the war! The rebels won! It was a triumph! Shouldn't someone get a little happiness? Please? Do it for me? I didn't like how much Katniss was taken advantage of in this novel either, she seemed to lose her strength that she displayed in previous books, and that was what I loved about her. She was used as a pawn, I am aware that this is often the result of individuals who enter to fight in wars, but she was our Katniss and I missed her spirit a little in this story. So much of the action and plot development happened away from her, and without her being aware because she was injured or vulnerable and I feel the book may have suffered for it.

I also didn't think Katniss's abandonment of her oldest friend Gale was particularly justified. I understand that he could have been responsible for creating the bomb that killed her little sister. A death that I didn't think was necessary, since most of Katniss's reason for living was her sister, Prim was the reason Katniss was in The Hunger Games in the first place, so killing her off at this point seemed needlessly cruel. Surely Katniss could have tried a little empathy and thought about how much it was destroying Gale too. He had been a little bit callous in this novel sure, but he had always promised Katniss he would take care of her family and he had failed, he liked Prim so this had to have hurt him as well. As a result she decides to cut him out. I know that it would have been a lot to get over, and maybe you wouldn't, maybe that bitterness would always be there, but you owe it to yourself to try, Katniss had lost a lot of people in her life, she didn't need to lose one more. The resolution of the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale was quite unsatisfying to me and much of it seemed to be somewhat of an afterthought, I feel it could have been handled better. Then to add to Katniss's misery her mother decides to keep her distance as well, again Prim's death was traumatic to those who loved her, but she still has one daughter left, her only family, this should drive them closer together not further apart.

So all in all, this book was brilliantly written and I really couldn't put it down, Suzanne Collins is still a great writer and I will definitely read anything else she does, I was just really disappointed that nobody could get a happily ever after, not even a slight one. At the end of a trilogy I like to be left with just a little slither of hope, especially if the characters achieve what they set out to achieve, but this one seemed to fall short of that mark. Any happiness Katniss and Peeta were given seemed to have a sting in the tail and wasn't actually happiness. I settled on giving it 3.5/5. I really wanted to give it a 4 because it was very well written, I just don't think it quite made the mark because of how disappointed I was for the poor characters. I do understand that war is cruel, this book points out broken people can get and how most people are just pawns being moved for someone else's benefit, but I still would have liked a little bit of hope to take from the epilogue of the book.

Currently Reading: Clockwork Angel By Cassandra Clare

Beastly By Alex Flinn (3/5)

I read this book rather quickly, whilst on holiday, which to me classifies it as an 'easy read'. I am in two minds about it however. I am an eternal fan of Beauty & The Beast, and yes I'm referring to the Disney film. I was raised on it, my entire morality was pretty much shaped as a result of this film, so I was quite curious how this modern adaptation would fare. I was especially tempted by the fact that it was from The Beast's point of view. The book started out with Kyle, who was simply an arse. He was extremely realistic in this way, his bullying was quite subtle and cruel, his self confidence a result of a lifetime of being treated as if he was elite. His character was three dimensional in this way and it made him seem more than your typical 'bully', especially in a book set in a high school environment. The loss of his looks, his 'friends', his girlfriend, his status all made his character develop in a way that was entertaining to read, and the plot continued at a nice pace, it didn't seem to drag at any point. For me the greatest turning point in his personality was when he realised that the people who were working for him, and who his previous self would have sneered at, were actually the closest friends he had ever had. The relationship between him and his live in staff was, to me, rather sweet and endearing. I can't really fault the development of his character in this area, and my only criticism was that the two years went by too fast, and I would have enjoyed to experience more of his life during this time. I feel like the successful development of Kyle's personality and his relationship with his new friends carried the novel for me, as I found other sections a little unrealistic or unexplained.

The one problem I did have with this novel was that the love story felt a little forced. I did like that it felt forced from Kyle/ Adrian's side, since he is aware that he only has a very slim chance of breaking the curse and would throw his whole self in no matter who was on the other side. Linda however, I found a little 'meh'. She did nothing for me, she had very little personality, and what she did have was general and uneventful. I think the story lacked her point of view, we have no idea why she decided to fall for 'Adrian', except for the fact that she is deep enough to look beyond appearances. To me love is a lot more complicated than that, and a number of factors result in someone falling in love, I think I would have liked to have seen some of those factors in this story. I would have liked Linda to have been more three dimensional, to maybe have more of an attitude when she is imprisoned against her will. She just seemed to be an after thought of a character. I also didn't enjoy the fact that during her separation from Adrian the explanation for her lack of contact was losing an address and being unable to find him. This seemed like a little bit simple for me, and I didn't like the damsel in distress aspect to her character either. The one part of her story I did enjoy was her relationship with her father. Having him give her away as an attempt to escape a jail sentence and continue to use drugs was a very smart idea of the author. It was a realistic way to write a type of parent who would willingly sacrifice their child. Using the justification of a drug addict was a clever method, in my opinion. Another part of the story I was dissatisfied with was the character of Kendra, I found her to lack depth and some parts of her personality were entirely unexplored. On top of that at times she seemed to stretch almost to the point of becoming a cliché. I enjoyed her at the beginning of the book but towards the end she became more unrealistic and a little dull.

In general I enjoyed the book, but only because the development of the main character was enough to compensate for the flaws found elsewhere. I enjoyed sharing Kyle's story and it was a good job that this part was written so well, or else I may have lost interest.

A Conspiracy of Kings By Megan Whalen Turner (4/5)

This story follows the path of Sophos, the young heir to the throne of Sounis. Though, like in the previous books, his path crosses that of other familiar characters. It was very refreshing to experience this young boy grow into a strong man. His character development was well written and subtle. He changes a lot though this story and as it is described step by step none of it seems unrealistic or sudden. The gradual shaping of him into a figure of authority that was able to lead his nation was very entertaining to read. He is a very likeable individual that has the support of the reader right from the beginning.

The relationships between all of the characters are all linked beautifully, and even though the situation of all 3 countries is completely different than it was at the start of the first book, every little plot twist was written so well that it all just felt natural. It was impressive how the author could inter link all of the previous main characters lives and not have it feel forced or incongruous.

The plot once again follows the countries through various wars and demonstrates how a specific leader defends their country against attack, both externally and internally. I liked reading how Sophos was basically forced into the position of leader and had to fight to assume the position how he wished to, rather than to be a puppet of someone who felt he could be manipulated. This character's alteration from young vulnerable heir to strong leader was brilliant. My favourite part was when he lived as a slave, and found himself in a content position amongst a group of slaves. It was a completely different situation for him to find himself in, and yet he managed to find a sense of belonging amongst them. His personality developed as a result, and he found strength whilst being treated like the lowest form of being. The increase of his strength and courage made this book a very good read. I did miss Gen's POV being the primary one, but I really did find myself taking to Sophos as a character.