MOCKINGJAY (Suzanne Collins) - October 29/10

The final book in the Hunger Games trilogy ensures that the series ends with a whimper, as the book is just relentlessly uneven, overlong, and anticlimactic. The book fares especially poorly in its first 200 pages, as Katniss and company are forced to live underground in a bunker - with this section of the story awfully reminiscent of The Host. The book does improve slightly as Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and the rest embark on their mission to assassinate President Snow, yet the bizarre (yet admittedly unpredictable) final 40 pages or so feels a little anticlimactic. (The big choice between Gale and Peeta turns out not to be a choice at all, as Katniss is effectively forced to be with Peeta after Gale basically just disappears.) It's just disappointing, is all, given how spectacularly entertaining The Hunger Games was. **1/2 out of ****