A review by lucialockleymorante
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Sunrise on the Reaping is set during the 50th Hunger Games - Haymitch Abernathy's games. This book dives into that brutal arena, exploring not just the games themselves, but the crumbling moral fabric of a society built on spectacle and control. Honestly? This book was traumatising -but in that kind of way that you can't put it down. I'd go so far as to say it's Collins' most emotionally intense and well-written book yet. It connects so cleverly to the original trilogy and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but not in a heavy-handed or obvious way. Instead, it weaves everything together into a fuller, darker picture of Panem's evolution. One of the best parts was getting to know Haymitch on a deeper level. His relationship with Louella was heartbreaking and beautiful - it mirrored the dynamic he later has with Katniss, but you could feel how much more raw and unfiltered this version of him was.
That scene when Haymitch places Louella's dead body in front of Snow and CLAPS, absolutely gut-wrenching. It wasn't just powerful; it was poetic and deeply unsettling. That moment alone gives this book 5 stars.
Would I recommend this book? Abso-f***ing-lutely... if you want to be traumatised and emotionally wrecked in the best, most Suzanne Collins way possible.
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