dracos_library 's review for:

Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

4.75

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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: No

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I.am.not.okay. 

I don't even know where to begin... this broke me. 
Haymitch had to wait 25 YEARS for anyone to break the damn wheel or as Lenore Dove would say until the sun didn't rise at the reaping anymore. 

"You don’t win the Hunger Games by playing fair. You win by knowing the rules better than they do."

There were times I had to put the book down because I was physically shaking because it was so devestating.  I mean I know how devestating her books can be- but I wasn't prepared.

From the very first page, there was this growing sense of dread, this awful knowledge that no matter what happened, it would end in devastation. And yet, I couldn’t look away. The writing is so sharp, so precise, that it feels like a knife slowly pressing in. Every moment of tension, every stolen second of hope, every act of violence—none of it felt meaningless. Every single thing hurt for a reason. 

"They will not use our tears for their entertainment."

What destroyed me the most, though, was the psychological unraveling. The way the characters are caught in a machine that doesn’t just demand their suffering—it feeds on it. The arena itself was horrifying, yes, but it was the moments before and after that left the deepest scars. Watching someone try to hold on to themselves, to their humanity, while knowing they are doomed? It’s excruciating.

I'm just going to list things that broke me: Lulu. Maysilee Donner. Lenore Dove. His brother and his mum. The coffins. The epilogue. The fact that he's not allowed to give up because he has people to care for now. And before that nobody? It was devestating.