About the Book
-
Author:
- Suzanne Collins
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Dystopia
- Voices:
- Cis Boy
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Panem-tastic
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Talky Talk: HOT DAMN, SUZANNE
Bonus Factors: The Breakfast Club, Underdogs
Factor: Capitol Cruelty
Relationship Status: Love Hurts
Spoiler Alert: This is the 5th published book in the Hunger Games series, but the 2nd chronologically. I would not advise this as your first ever entry; at minimum, you should read the main trilogy beforehand, if not all four previous installments. But just in case you choose to ignore that advice, this review contains no spoilers for the other books. Nor this book, obvs.
Cover Story: Panem-tastic
The dynamic duo of artist Tim O’Brien and designer Elizabeth B. Parisi are back, and as well as the snake and the bird motif! The symbol’s explained very early on, so you won’t have to wait long to recreate the Leo pointing meme. Anyway, with all of these distinct cover colours, it almost seems like the series is going for the full rainbow. (OMG ALLY!!!)
The Deal
Each year’s Hunger Games is its own specific hell, but the fiftieth edition — or the Quarter Quell, for alliterative reasons — will be super-sized, with four tributes per district facing off against each other in the arena, aka Panem’s worst and deadliest escape room.
District 12 doesn’t have a lot going for it. It’s basically the runt of the litter, and its tributes don’t tend to last long in the Games. But double the tributes means double the chances of victory, right?
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
All 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy cares about is taking care of his family and spending time with his sweetheart. Which is already a lot for a kid, but highly commendable! That’s just the kind of person he is: always looking out for others, even when it’s to his own detriment. Life’s been hard for Haymitch — and he’s been too hard on himself, too. Honestly, a lot of my reading experience was just being heartbroken for Haymitch*.
* “Heartbroken for Haymitch” also could have been the title of this book.
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Haymitch and Lenore Dove spend more time apart than together, but no amount of distance could diminish their young but true love. She might not be physically with him, but he carries her in his heart and mind everywhere he goes.
Talky Talk: HOT DAMN, SUZANNE
Once again, these prequels prove that Suzanne Collins knows how to inflict MAXIMUM PSYCHIC DAMAGE. Even within the first few pages, I was like, WOW, SUZANNE, YOU ARE RUTHLESS. (I tagged this under Do Not Read In Public for a reason!) Ironically, given how deliberate I’ve been in avoiding spoilers for this review, knowing the shape of the story from the main trilogy doesn’t actually lessen the tension; a real “it’s the journey, not destination”. To quote MTV’s Diary: you think you know, but you have no idea.
For readers of the previous books, there are Easter Eggs APLENTY. Maybe even a bit too many, although it does make sense since we’re getting closer to the original trilogy timeline with someone from the same district. Looking at the series as a whole, the narration goes back to first-person perspective as it was in the first three books, as opposed to third-person in the first prequel. It’s pretty clear that the District 12 POVs are supposed to be relatable whereas the one from the Capitol is not. If Suzanne has any more installments in her (and her editor has said that Mockingjay is probably the chronological end), I’m not sure if there are many known characters left whose stories she’d want to explore, especially ones with strong District 12 ties. She does seem interested in the Covey, the once nomadic musicians who don’t really belong to any district. Or I could see her going way back to the Dark Days rebellion that resulted in the Hunger Games, if she wants to continue ramping up the bleakness.
Bonus Factor: The Breakfast Club
The odds are stacked against District 12’s ragtag tribute foursome: a mischievous rascal, a sweet ingenue, a numbers savant, and a mean girl extraordinaire (MAYSILEE**, MY QUEEN!!!). They might not have much, but at least they have each other — outside of the arena, anyway.
** It’s not a Hunger Games novel unless there are names you’ve never seen before in your life!
Bonus Factor: Underdogs
Career tributes from wealthy Districts 1, 2, and 4 seem like they’ve been training to dominate the Hunger Games for their entire lives. But the one strength that the Careers don’t have is in numbers — i.e., they’re vastly outnumbered by everyone else. And for the Quarter Quell, there’s an alliance brewing against them among the non-Careers.
Factor: Capitol Cruelty
When there are extreme fascist regimes in fiction (and unfortunately outside of it, too), the big question is how they’ve stayed in power for so long. How are they getting away with it? Why aren’t the masses rising up? Witnessing Panem at the height of its tyrannical rule reminds me of something we all know far too well from recent history: the cruelty is the point. And resistance doesn’t come easy. But people fighting for a better world that they themselves might not experience makes me think of a banger speech from Andor:
“What is my sacrifice? […] I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.”
Andor (Season 1, Episode 10)
Relationship Status: Love Hurts
WELP. Even though I knew this book would be a bummer, I am BEREFT. It’s been days since I finished, and I am STILL BEREFT. I don’t know if Suzanne has ever made me cry before? But she got me on the the literal last page. While I’m ultimately in favour of this book existing, I might also never reread it, because WHY WOULD I PUT MYSELF THROUGH THAT AGAIN? (JK, I’ll still watch the upcoming adaptation and then grouse about how the book was better. And by “better”, I mean DEVASTATING.)
FTC Full Disclosure: I bought my own copy so that I could read and review this in a somewhat timely manner. I received neither money nor gelato for writing this review (dammit!). Sunrise on the Reaping is available now.
If I were Suzanne Collins I’d write a book about the original collapse of civilization and the rise of the Capitol and the districts. Either that, or I’d roll around naked on a bed of money.