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A review by balsamfue
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The prequel Hunger Games book that feels like it belongs. I'm still in awe of all the ways this book connects to the main trilogy and how well it fits with it. I flew through this book!
Haymitch is an easy character to like and get behind, and differs from Katniss in his way of observing the world. Because of this, you will inevitably be devastated by what occurs in the book and how he became the character we know in the Hunger Games book. Despite knowing it, the plot is engaging and reveals more information about the 50th Hunger Games to twist the knife later on. If I could sue an author for emotional damage, I'd come after you Suzanne!
Main flaws of this book are that the character writing is not evenly distributed well. For example, Haymitch's girlfriend has little character, yet one of the tributes he works with (Maysilee) had plenty of it to go around. You can tell some characters only exist to callback to the main cast or to explain their later actions. Additionally, I could tell there were times Collins had to give Haymitch plot armor during the Games to avoid writing herself into a corner. What you'd expect from a prequel written well after the main series.
There's so much meat to this book that I'm not getting at. You really have to have read the other books to fully enjoy this one. At any rate, reading all the theories and references online has brought me back to 2013 me. And in these times, I appreciate that.
Haymitch is an easy character to like and get behind, and differs from Katniss in his way of observing the world. Because of this, you will inevitably be devastated by what occurs in the book and how he became the character we know in the Hunger Games book. Despite knowing it, the plot is engaging and reveals more information about the 50th Hunger Games to twist the knife later on. If I could sue an author for emotional damage, I'd come after you Suzanne!
Main flaws of this book are that the character writing is not evenly distributed well. For example, Haymitch's girlfriend has little character, yet one of the tributes he works with (Maysilee) had plenty of it to go around. You can tell some characters only exist to callback to the main cast or to explain their later actions. Additionally, I could tell there were times Collins had to give Haymitch plot armor during the Games to avoid writing herself into a corner. What you'd expect from a prequel written well after the main series.
There's so much meat to this book that I'm not getting at. You really have to have read the other books to fully enjoy this one. At any rate, reading all the theories and references online has brought me back to 2013 me. And in these times, I appreciate that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Police brutality, Grief
Minor: Alcoholism
Some of the character deaths are more gruesome than you might expect from a YA book.