Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

225 reviews

challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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: Yes

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dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

Suzanne Collins really came back swinging with this one. Sunrise on the Reaping is dark, brutal, and layered in a way that cuts deep, especially when you realize how much it parallels the world we live in right now. This isn’t just a return to the Hunger Games universe, it’s a sharp and chilling look at how propaganda shapes public opinion and who gets to hold power. Every scene, every speech, every image feels like it’s ripped from real-life headlines, reminding you just how easily stories can be spun to manipulate trust and loyalty.

This book leans more into the psychological than straight-up action, and honestly that works in its favor. It’s tense and unsettling, full of moments that force you to sit with the discomfort. The way Collins uses propaganda in this book is terrifyingly smart. You can see how calculated it all is, how truth and fiction blur into something weaponized. It feels like watching a modern media machine unravel in real time.

And just when I thought I was emotionally prepared, this book had the nerve to make me cry. The heartbreak is not cheap. It’s raw, it’s earned, and it lingers. Collins does not hold back on emotional gut punches, and the weight of those moments sticks with you long after you're done.

The new protagonist is complicated. You’re not always going to agree with them or even like them, but that’s the point. This book isn’t here to make you feel good. It’s here to challenge you and make you squirm a bit, and it does that well.

If I had to nitpick anything, it would be a few slower sections in the middle, but even those serve a purpose in building tension and setting up that final emotional payoff.

All in all, Sunrise on the Reaping is bold, unsettling, and devastating in the best way. Suzanne Collins still knows exactly what she’s doing. This isn’t just dystopia for the sake of drama, it’s a mirror held up to our own reality, and it dares you to look.


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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

oh my god. insane. brutal. tense. gripping. thrilling. evil. shocking. jesus christ. i was locked the hell in from page one and it did not let up. just enough references to remind you of the rest of the series, but is still incredible fresh and some of the connections were still surprising like
THE MOCKINGJAY PIN. it didnt clock in my mind until the end when they mention it again

incredibly written, amazing characters. just such a treat but also i am emotionally wrecked.
THE HOUSE. HIS FAMILY. THE FUCKING GUM DROPS. the epilogue…..

suzanne collins has done it again folks. i liked this SO much more than songbirds and snakes. 
THE ALLUSIONS …. RAAAHHH

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dark emotional sad tense 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: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A

You know the saying... Suzanne Collins writes when she has something to say. And boy does she. This book was fantastic. I don't know how Suzanne Collins writes a story we know the ending to in such a way that has you hooked from the first sentence. She masterfully worked with propaganda in this book. I'll reread it soon, after I wipe the tears from my eyes.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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: No

another great read from suzanne collins, this book was a mix of fiction and a fictional reflection of today’s political climate, let kids be kids 

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

Someone in the reviews said this book is suitable for ages 12+. DO NOT LET YOUR 12-YEAR-OLD READ THIS. There is a copious amount of violence and several complicated themes, especially for someone who may not know how to process what they read.

It's a great book. Just not for your kid who just became eligible to be reaped in the first place. I mean, you've got kids being ripped apart by squirrels. One tribute stabbed to death by pink birds with knife-sharp beaks. One literally decapitated. The final fight includes a tribute's eye being gouged out with a knife, and the victor literally having to hold his own intestines to keep them from falling out.

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thus book really  did push limits of what we already knew about Haymitch’s games.
The was a lot of “oh tge game makers will never show this!” the cover all parts that didn't quiet fight the picture already laid out out for us
but there were some amazing easter eggs and deeper looks into the characters and older victors. 

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