Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Sunrise on the Reaping (a Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins

253 reviews

ilutzer's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This book moved me so deeply. It expanded on themes throughout the original trilogy and in Ballad, filling in gaps. It made the rebellion (I.e. of Catching Fire and Mockingjay) seem longer and more complex. I believe this theme of patience is very reflective of our society today. Haymitch experiences a lot of horrible events that contribute to his character development, and how he becomes the alcohol-dependent mentor that we meet in the original trilogy. It explains his story a lot, and how he is similar to both Katniss and Peeta

that they are ‘luckier’ than he was

. I see a lot of arguments that this book is just a repeat of the other books, that it explored similar themes, and that

the mentions of characters we already knew from the original series

were unnecessary and just fan service. But I think that repeating history, learning from the past, and not giving up on the future - even if you don’t know if you’ll live to see it - are important themes to explore and teach young readers. As for

seeing old characters we know and love

, I felt that I gained more understanding on the second rebellion in CF and Mockingjay, and

characters like Beetee, Wiress, Mags, Plutarch, and Haymitch had always been a part of wanting a better future, not just following Katniss, who was a 16 year old girl and had little knowledge about rebellion and plans to take down the Games, compared to Haymitch at 16. Additionally, Burdock being Haymitch’s best friend just makes sense. We know from THG that D12 only has about 8,000 people. If Haymitch and Burdock were in the same grade in school and both lived in the Seam, they already would have a lot of crossover. Aside from this, I find it quite poetic that Haymitch becomes Katniss’s father figure, after losing her own father, who happened to once be Haymitch’s best friend.

 
I could go on about the themes in this book and the characters and how much I love this story, but that would be too long of a review. I recommend this to all fans of The Hunger Games trilogy, and also recommend a reread of all of the four books prior to reading this one for greater understanding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol

ollygrace's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

reebo95's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Beautiful. It's a retcon dream, fitting well with the previous books and reconciling with the characters we already know.  There's so many little Easter eggs I'm sure there will be more on re- read.  It also makes me want to re- read the other books to experience them in light of this new content.  It's such a a touching story in itself and Collins has still got that sad, heart wrenching magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol

afriaz's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

jacobalenciaga's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, War

hopebookworm's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

lisainher30s's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Each Hunger Games book seems to surpass the one before it, even over a decade later. These prequels hold absolutely nothing back, with absolutely horrifying deaths and gut wrenching ends to storylines - literally no one is safe and that’s evident in Haymitch’s story probably more than anyone else’s that we’ve seen so far. As always, absolutely incredible and dystopian fiction done only the way Collins can. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol

allgeesenotime's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, War, Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Classism

simsplayer30's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Classism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Not my favorite Hunger Games book, but definitely worth the read. This book focuses more on the themes of media shaping the narrative and just how cruel the regime can be, making you suffer personally without end. This book felt a little repetitive in what it showed and the easter eggs between Songbirds and Hunger Games were a little on the nose. Haymitch just kept suffering and suffering throughout the games and on his return home, making me wonder about the difference between him and Katniss and how President Snow treated them. Maybe more subtlety in the future? Haymitch was really clever and I loved seeing his character portrayed in that way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol