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Ich hätte mir gewünscht, dass mehr Themen aufgegriffen worden wären, die in den anderen vier Büchern noch nicht vorkamen. Sonst wären es vielleicht sogar 5 Sterne gewesen.
Oh und hab selten eine Nebenfigur so geliebt wie Maysilee.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Pregnancy, War
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use
Minor: Suicide
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use
Minor: Suicide
So good. I’m wrecked.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury
The easter eggs, the references, and the extra world-building were all done beautifully.
And the epilogue - just beautiful!
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
collins has done it once again, and this time I would even go so far as to say that it is maybe the best of the five books. though, perhaps a lot of that is owed to how familiar i already am with everything thanks to the previous four. regardless, i feel like she really hit her stride here. the narrative is so tight. there’s truly almost nothing left to clean up by the end in terms of character or story. it’s masterful how succinct she can be when delving into such an epic tale. even the characters i had never met before felt familiar and real, and i knew from very early on in the book that i was about to be devastated at the loss of any of them.
collins continues to circumvent my own assumptions of both the HG society as well as human nature. she has this uncanny ability to make even small moments feel important—make even small characters feel haunting. my favorite example of this was
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Eating disorder, Rape, Pregnancy
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Car accident
Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Pregnancy, Abandonment
I will try and be as coherent as I can, because I want to get my thoughts out while I still remember them, but this review will probably contain a lot of rambling. It may also contain swear words. I'm putting it all under a spoiler tag to be safe - if you want to read it and still haven't, click away now.
*SPOILER*
*SPOILER*
*SPOILER"
This book delivered on just about anything a Hunger Games fan could want from a prequel(although maybe not the most extreme of die-hards).
At last, we got the first names of Katniss and Peeta's parents (although not Peeta's mother, I notice) - Asterid March, who we know later married Burdock Everdeen, and Otho Mellark, Peeta's father. Lots of cameos from characters we know and love (and hate, in the case of President Snow) from the original series, as well as a few nods to the cast of President Snow's origin story, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I have no doubt this latest instalment will spawn many theories and headcanons (I have at least one, myself).
It's got genius, heartstopping plot twists that change the story's direction in an instant. Even those who remember Katniss viewing Haymitch's Games in Catching Fire still have surprises in store for them, for the theme that is evident throughout Sunrise is propaganda (but more on that later). Numerous action scenes (they felt fairly episodic to me, although maybe that was my fault for reading too fast), and shocking moments that will stick in my brain for a long time to come (there are some VERY gory and bloody scenes). This will definitely be a book that I will reread at some point, maybe when I reread the series as a whole.
The one thing I really felt throughout this novel was the cruelty of the Capitol. Parents forced to witness their children's deaths. Torture - both emotional and physical - for those who show even the slightest defiance towards them and their rule. Cruelty, to force children into a fight to the death to punish them for the sins of their ancestors. Cruelty, to indoctrinate their own citizens into believing that the Hunger Games are justified.
There are many more things I would like to say, but I have to stop for now. I'll try and get back to this if I remember.
All of the above (including the non-spoilery opening paragraphs) was written on March 21st, 2025. I am continuing this review on March 23rd, two days later. Spoilers under the tag to follow.
*SPOILER*
*SPOILER*
*SPOILER"
I would like to revise my initial phrasing of the appearance of characters from previous instalments in this one, as I have come to realise that the word "cameos" doesn't really do their appearances justice - they are all there because they play vital parts not only in Haymitch's story, but in Katniss' story as well. They are not merely "fan service" as some readers have put it (although it was nice to see them!). They also serve to emphasise that a revolution does not happen overnight and that often they are years in the planning, and initial attempts may not always succeed, as they don't here. Haymitch may have been one of those who lit the fuse, but Katniss set it aflame.
The other strong impression I got whilst reading was how similar Katniss and Haymitch were, it felt almost visceral at times - however, an opinion I read on Tumblr only today has made me recalibrate my viewpoint somewhat. While Katniss and Haymitch may be similar in terms of personality and instinct, from a tactical point of view, Haymitch is more like Peeta. Peeta almost immediately sees the Hunger Games for what they are, and adapts his tactics to best fit his circumstances (the "baby bomb" in Catching Fire being a prime example of this), and Haymitch is the same.
Propaganda is an important theme in Sunrise, and again and again Suzanne Collins drives the point home that we cannot always trust what we see, which brings me back to another important point I've seen raised on Tumblr - how many generations does it take for the viewpoint of an event to take root in society, obscuring the real truth of that event? That has parallels with the real world, too, especially when it comes to events like the Holocaust of WWII, which I will not elaborate here.
A powerful, thought-provoking novel that I definitely plan to do a reread of in the near future - if only because the world Suzanne Collins wrote about draws ever closer to becoming a reality.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, War
So many little pieces of the puzzle come together and I’m proud of myself for picking up on
My reason for a 4 instead of a 5 is because some parts felt too convenient or typical of this particular world?? Like it’s still depressing and horrible, but a lot of it was just to be expected kind of, and the parts that were really sad were over very quickly? If that makes sense. (I might also be unphased bc I’m in a weirdly non-emotional state of my life and have been unable to cry or be really emotional??? So take this with a grain of salt bc I have seen people sobbing on the timeline)
Still, overall it’s good and gave us a nice wake up call after everyone was simping over Snow in Ballad. As the NYT writes, books like this are able “to shine a light in tyranny’s greasiest corners and show how people — ordinary, determined human beings — might take it apart.”
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Physical abuse
Minor: War
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders