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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Amanecer en la cosecha by Suzanne Collins

295 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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

Another strong addition to the Hunger Games universe. Compared to the last installment, this one feels more like the original trilogy, especially with its focus on the Games. (Not that I disliked the last book. It just didn’t quite feel like a Hunger Games story.) The pacing is tighter, the stakes are higher, and the tone is darker. Romance takes a backseat.

President Snow is back in control and just as terrifying. There’s plenty of fan service, but it’s handled well, with nods to both the original trilogy and the Ballad. It made me want to reread the whole series. Like Ballad, this book weaves in folk songs. It’s also fascinating to see how the Capitol’s propaganda and technology keep evolving.

The ending is brutal, and the epilogue is bittersweet. I appreciated that the story chose a sad ending over a neat, happy one.

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adventurous dark emotional 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: Complicated

This is Lenore Dove’s work. Her sign. Her message to me now. Her reminder that I must prevent another sunrise on the reaping. And it says “You promised me.” With that, she condemns me to life.

Sunrise on the Reaping is a fluent read that expertly develops Haymitch’s character. Something that particularly impressed me about this book is how frequently and cleverly Collins subverts expectations and assumptions I had about its plot and that of the whole series. SotR shows us the true extent of collective trauma between many of the characters, adding much more depth to previous installments. Some of the character appearances did feel a bit fan service-y/gimmicky, but they definitely made me want to return to the original trilogy.

While on the other books, I will say that I don’t think the political message hit as hard in this one. Based on how it was advertised, I was hoping for a more explicitly philosophical novel, but I think The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was more original in this regard. There is also a lack of subtlety - I understand why, but in my opinion, it’s not always to good effect. I did however love all the
Haymitch/Katniss
and
Haymitch/Snow
parallels and the reveal of
Haymitch being the spark to Katniss’ fire
. The musings on
the longevity of rebellion and the value of small acts of resistance
are probably my favourite theme of the book.

Overall, I‘m glad to say that this book does add something to the series and that I “enjoyed“ reading it (but oh, the pain!).

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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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adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The best book I've read in a long time. I cried so much.

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

Cada vez que hay un libro nuevo de LJdH siento que es porque estamos pasando por alto un acontecimiento social importante y que Suzanne Collins nos quiere dar un toquecito de atención.
Para empezar, es increíble cómo estos libros nunca dejan de ser buenos. La historia de Haymitch ha sido las más pedida de la saga y no solo no ha defraudado, sino que ha dejado una marca que dudo que desaparezca en los lectores. Ya sabíamos que Haymitch era un personaje complejo, pero poder levantar el telón que tapaba su historia y descubrir el por qué ha sido un proceso digno de vivir. Con el corazón encogido y sabiendo lo que te espera en la última página, eso sí.
Me impresiona todas las veces cómo los libros de LJdH son ladrillos físicamente y se leen con una velocidad pasmosa. Suzanne es la maestra de capturar la atención de los espectadores y no soltarla hasta que ha dicho todo lo que tenía que decir. Aplauso (o mejor dicho, ovación) a la traducción, que nunca defrauda y siempre consigue darle un toque especial a esta saga. Trabajo titánico por parte de las dos profesionales.
"Amanecer en la cosecha" tiene muchas papeletas para ser el Libro del Año y siendo sincera, el puesto es más que merecido.

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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: No

Mixed feelings. Overall, it was an interesting, moving look into Haymitch's backstory. It was very heavy and sad, but it didn't dig into Haymitch's descent into alcoholism in great detail, which I was most scared about out of everything. I thought Haymitch's characterization was good. I felt for him deeply.

However, I disliked the connections drawn between himself and Katniss. I think their relationship is stronger if she's just some random girl that he had no reason to love and support.

Also, this book made me hate Plutarch and Beetee. They can go straight to hell for what they did to Haymitch.

Ultimately, I'm not really sure what the point of this book was. A statement about propaganda, yes, but we already got that in the first 3 THG books.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings