challenging dark 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

This was so devastating. Beyond middle grade. Suzanne stuck the tip of a knife in the reader at the beginning, slowly pushing it in further, until the last several chapters, when she twists it over and over. 
This book does a fantastic job bridging the gap between aBoSaS prequel and the Hunger Games series, showing how we got from point A to point B without over explaining. Miss Collins delivers information so beautifully without spoonfeeding the reader. 

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challenging 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

Poor haymitch 💔 the entire book my heart was breaking for haymitch. This book was brilliant and so well written, might possibly be the best of the series. This definitely calls for a reread of the whole franchise. 
Some parts of this book made me close the book and sit with it for a minute, this is rare.
Well done Suzanne Collins you’ve outdone yourself 

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As a Hunger Games lover I was excited for Haymitch's prequel, especially after the brilliance of A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It didn't quite live up to my expectations...
 
While it introduced another facet of the Capitol's brutality and gave us the backstory for several of the excellent side characters from the original series, being back in the Hunger Games arena felt like a retread over old ground.

I also felt like the choice to frame Haymitch's Hunger Games as being a not-quite-right time for revolution makes the progression of the original trilogy more confusing. What was so different about Katniss from her predecessors that she became a lightning rod for change? If anything, she seems less attuned to the power of spectacle and symbolism than Haymitch does in this book.
 
I think my tolerance for the brutal deaths of children may be waning, but if Suzanne Collins decides to explore another aspect of Panem, I would love to read it.

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challenging 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: Complicated

Yikes! Sure did destroy me! There is so much to process from this book I feel the need to go back through it and stop every sentence and connect it back to the entire overarching plot of the series. And reread them in chronological order rather than release order even though release order should always be the go to for the first read through with a new book/series. Holy shit. The characters had so much depth, more so than in the first book in my opinion. Seeing the connections between the characters throughout the series was really satisfying and devastating all at once.
I’m grateful for the epilogue because connecting Haymitch back to Katniss really drove it all home for me. It gave me some closure but also hurt even more knowing for so long he never had that depth to Katniss and Peeta. Somehow Plutarch knew him best for the most of his life, and somewhat Effie given she realized the full extent of everything and saw past the propaganda. How quickly Haymitch went from a part of his community (which was in much better shape in his youth than in Katniss’s) to being so alone and a drunk is a punch to the gut. And that’s only how Katniss knew him. He was never Uncle Haymitch. The anger and injustice I feel knowing how much of the Games were cut up and the Capitol and Districts didn’t see the truth of Haymitch’s actions is insurmountable.
But I guess that’s what keeps the books so powerful; Suzanne Collins doesn’t give us that happy ending. It stays grim and full of trauma and despair.  She gives us a future but she doesn’t pretend that the characters aren’t permanently broken from what they’ve been through. I just want the truth to have been plastered across all of Panem so everyone knew what really happened and who Haymitch really is.

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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

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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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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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

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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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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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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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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