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A review by elle_est_belle
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Collins certainly had a tough job in front of her: writing a prequel we already know the conclusion to. Every character other than Haymitch is more doomed by the narrative than usual, so it's hard to connect to them. Still, a few stand out as memorable. The most annoying part is her writing style, which has this uncanny ability to interrupt a scene or dialogue exchange for a paragraph or two of exposition; she's aware that there's an audience, and it shows. As the narrator, Haymitch comes awfully close to fourth-wall breaks on several occasions and even smashes right through in an early chapter to make sure we know he has 21st century opinions. Even then, the last couple chapters and the epilogue were tough to read, but worth the slog to get there. It doesn't really end so much as stop, but maybe after everything Haymitch has been through, that's the best we could hope for.
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