Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins NARRATOR: Jefferson White SERIES: The Hunger Games, #0.5 GENRE: YA Dystopian Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 18, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The fifth book in the Hunger Games series, second in chronological order. Focusses on the 50th Hunger games and its winner, Haymitch Abernathy. Gets everything right from characters to plot to action to emotions to continuity. I am so thrilled one of my favourite characters of the HG universe got this fabulous book. If only it could have been happier, but we know it’s not possible. Much recommended. Read this only after reading the earlier four books. Plot Preview: On Haymitch’s 16th birthday, he wants to spend some time with the girl he loves. Unfortunately, his birthday is the same date as the Reaping. This year’s games are special. As the 50th edition of the hunger games, the Quarter Quell will have double the number of tributes from each district. Haymitch hopes against hope that his name won't be chosen...

AUTHORS: Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett GENRE: Graphic Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 13, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A non-fiction graphic novel detailing trans history from ancient times to contemporary times. Very informative and fairly well-researched. Contains many examples of historical as well as current-day trans people. Generalises some facts at times and gets a bit dry in the historical bits. But a good option for those who wish to learn more about the topic. While there are many labels about gender and sexual identities these days ( Sometimes, I feel like I can't even catch up with the existing ones before there's another new label in circulation! ), one label that has existed for quite some time now is "transgender". Though we now know that a trans identity isn't just "transgender" people, many of us don't realise what the term actually encompasses. Worse, a few of us dismiss "trans-ness" as a mental disease or ...