Reviews - Sunrise on the Reaping

74.3k reviews for:

Sunrise on the Reaping

Suzanne Collins

4.56 AVERAGE

therealbanana7523's review

4.0

adventurous 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

thank GOD I decided to read all four of the previous books for the sole purpose of reading this one because I genuinely haven't read something that hit me this much since Malibu rising (my baby). this was devastating in the best possible way and I fear I will never recover.

first of all, I think that considering (1) basically the whole plot was revealed to us in catching fire and (2) the fact that he doesn't have any family and is a raging alcoholic in the original trilogy gives us a pretty good idea what's going to happen to all his loved ones, it was really well written. I didn't feel like I was bored because I knew the ending, I felt like I wanted to keep going and going and going. And the way that half of the story was censored from the recap (what Peeta and Katniss saw) first of all made it all the more powerful to read what actually happened and second of all made it even more interesting and kept me engaged in the story.

like the whole rebel plot to break the arena and the way haymitch was basically the original Katniss and spent the whole book rebelling against the capitol was entirely unexpected to me and made it so much fascinating to read. the chapter after the games where he watched the recap back (the same one that we all read in catching fire) and had the whole commentary of what actually happened and how the story developed into a whole book in SOTR compared to what was shown to the people was also really good because it was so well written and consistent and coherent anyway and then that just tied it all together so well. i don't know if Suzanne has just had this in the works for a good 15 years or if she's just a creative genius and filled in all the rest 15 years later, but whichever way it is, she deserves some awards.

I also believe that the writing quality from Suzanne collins has also significantly stepped up since the original trilogy - in my reviews for those I wrote 'simple writing style' as a comment (not necessarily a bad thing but not a particularly good one either). however in this book while the writing was still pretty simple, I think the inner monologue vibe has very much improved. it was a good amount of simple in that it was easy to follow and it did actually feel like I was following along with his actual thoughts, but it was more engaging in a way that I can't quite put my finger on. maybe it's just been too long since I read the games in the first two of the original trilogy but I thought there was more devices like rhetorical questions and it was just overall written to a higher quality that made it all the better to read.

ALSO, the connections to all of the other books were absolutely divine in this. I liked how it linked backwards to TBOSAS with

the connections to snow and him knowing about Lenore dove and the covey through Lucy gray, and tam amber and clerk carmine showing up (ALTHOUGH I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MAUDE IVORY AND BARB AZURE

, and I liked that it linked forwards to the characters that we know from the original trilogy

like when burdock and asterid showed up I genuinely had to google katniss' parents names but then I was like oooh girl what are you doing here!

like TBOSAS, I really enjoyed the use of songs and poems and everything to carry the story. I think that's a really cool part of the covey being introduced to the books and it just adds another layer to the writing which makes it all the more engaging. the last chapter where Lenore dove's name poem was dispersed throughout it genuinely broke me because why did the whole thing fit so perfectly?!?? Suzanne knew what she was doing with that one and it genuinely was so powerful. all the songs that were featured in TBOSAS and then came up again in this book in haymitch and then burdock knowing them and carrying them forward to the original trilogy by teaching them to Katniss, STOP IT NOW!!!

I also thought that the whole social commentary thing was really well done in this book - obviously in the original trilogy it was there implicitly in the whole idea of the games and stuff but like with TBOSAS and its exploration of human nature and power and control, the whole theme of propaganda and censorship was so much more prominent throughout this book and I thought that was brilliant. I wasn't feeling like I was being lectured or like the book was trying to ram social messages down my throat because all the commentary was really well integrated into the story and made a lot of sense

for a tribute who thought he was marked for death anyway and was on a mission to rebel against power. like all the shit about painting posters - that's just what a rebel would do, but then it was all edited out and everything right from the very beginning - all of that is like yeah they'd do that, light work, about the capitol, but then you think about it more and you're like wait...

it's painfully relevant for the world today, particularly in the media generation - how do we know what's happening if it's being censored like that? especially with the current situation in America... it's just so close to home that it makes the reading experience even more valuable to me, at least. like in the last book, it adds another layer to the writing which makes it more interesting than just reading a normal dystopian book - we all know the ultra control government but the specific focus on propaganda and censorship here was done in a really effective way.

ALSO (can't believe I've got through this far in the review without mentioning this), this book was so incredibly heartbreaking at every single turn. the second he started speaking about Lenore dove I was upset because I could obviously guess what would happen, so essentially I was upset for 382 pages. actually, I was upset from the first line because WHAT was the need to make the reaping his birthday (although that day being 4th of July was pretty clever), and WHAT was the need to remind me that he'd get two tributes to mentor to death every single year ON HIS BIRTHDAY FOR THE NEXT QUARTER OF A DECADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the way

it was set up from the very beginning that he was so completely in love with Lenore dove and everything he did was for Lenore or because of Lenore or guided by Lenore and then THEY KILLED HER OFF WITH THE FUCKING GUMDROPS AND IT WAS HIM THAT GAVE HER THE GUMGROPS THAT KILLED HER!!!!!!

capital letters are NOT enough to express how completely devastated I am. I was nervous from the very beginning because everyone who has read this book has warned me about how awfully depressing it was and I was still not prepared.

the attachment he had to Louella and how he vowed to protect her and their whole big brother little sister relationship and then she got killed off after A DAY at the capitol, what? then the way every single of one his allies was young and vulnerable and loveable as a character and painfully died the second they came to him - Lou Lou, ampert, wellie, EVERYONE, what???? and then the way he became so close with maysilee and their brother sister bond and the way they literally called each other that and then they killed her off in the most horrifying way (and literally spent one page on it too, pleaseeee), WHAAT?!?! and then the way they killed Sid and ma IMMEDIATELY - he didn't even get to step off the train, he wasn't greeted by ANYONE because everyone was trying to save HIS FAMILY FROM THE HOUSEFIRE?!? AND THAT'S THE FIRST THING HE HAD TO SEE WHEN HE GOT OFF THE TRAIN AND CAME BACK TO HIS HOME, NOT EVEN TWO SECONDS OF REST FOR MY BABY AFTER MONTHS OF BEING TORTURED. AND THEN THEY BARELY GOT THROUGH THE FUNERAL AND THEY KILLED OFF LENORE DOVE AND THEN I HAD TO READ THAT WHOLE DEVASTATING CHAPTER WITH LENORE DOVE'S POEM WEAVED THROUGH IT ABOUT HOW HE GOT DEPRESSED AND DRUNK AND PUSHED AWAY EVERYONE THAT LOVED HIM STILL AND I HAD TO THINK ABOUT HOW HE HAD TO DEAL WITH THAT ALL ALONE FOR TWENTY FIVE YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT GAMES STOP IT NOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! AND THEN I WAS TORTURED BY THE EPILOGUE WHICH STRONGLY SUGGESTS THAT HE DOESN'T EVEN MAKE IT TO SEE KATNISS AND PEETA GROW UP HAPPY AND HAVE KIDS, AND THE WAY LENORE DOVE 'GREW OLD WITH HIM' IN HIS MIND SO SHE WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIMEEEEEEEE YOU MUST BE KDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!

it's also the way that there was absolutely no time to grieve any character because there was so many deaths so quickly due to the number of tributes, even though the characters were all so loveable (more or less) - that's very powerful literarily because obviously it's haymitchs' inner monologue and the whole point of the trauma of the games is that there's no time for him to grieve at all, but that doesn't make it any less PAINFUL!!!! what made it all the more sad (as if all that wasn't enough) was that the writing of the inner monologue style thing was so incredibly good and the whole book it was like 'when I die', 'I'm not making it out' etc - he was so completely certain he wouldn't win which guided his actions and the whole time I had the sinking feeling of what I KNEW was going to happen because I knew that he did win which was just so much worse. that being said it was an incredibly powerful reading experience and I think that it was done very well, Suzanne collins is the master of breaking my heart.

there was just a certain something about this book which really drew it to me. from the very beginning chapter with Blair and burdock being his best friends and his family and the neighbourhood and his lover Lenore dove I was so completely attached to every character and every single thing about the story. I have not felt this instinctual, inexplicable attachment since I read Malibu Rising (which is saying so incredibly much because that book genuinely changed the trajectory of my life). I cannot think of one bad thing to say about this book because I loved it so much that I had to go back and downrate the other four to express how good it was. if I could rate it six stars I absolutely would. no notes ever at all again. I would not wish this upon my worst enemy and would recommend it to everyone. the duality of a beautiful, masterfully crafted book. I feel so privileged and pleased to be able to read things like this on so many levels. I will never recover.
|—> had to come back to this because i just remembered the song “franklin house” which goes like i will survive but ill never recover and that one line is so completely perfect to sum up haymitch’s whole situation, im going to cry myself to sleep essentially