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Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
A book review by Alex Gedris
Let me start by saying that this is an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope more comes from this series. However, I would not recommend it to anyone who has not read the original trilogy and “Songbirds and Snakes.” Although this is probably my second favorite Hunger Games book, I just think it is more enjoyable if you know the rest of the series well. So with that being said, I am making this book review for those who have already read the other books and are deciding if they should read this one.
I think the plot of this book was wonderful. Not to spoil too much, but the new arena is very creative and really makes me excited for some of the visuals in the movie. If more books in this series are made, I think they should make the arenas as creative as they did with this book (and Catching Fire).
The book is slow and heavily focuses on character development. We see the struggle between rebellion against this murderous dictatorship and trying to keep our loved ones safe and protected. We see a conformant young man who just wants to keep himself alive turn into a hero when he realises first hand, the injustices of his world.
On another note, the book is quite self-reflective. We try to pretend that we would be appalled by the games, even if we lived in the capitol. But at the same time, we are reading about these same gruesome games for entertainment. It really exposes many people’s subconscious “hero complex” where we think we could be the one to stand out and change things in a world like this. When in reality, most of us would be just like Haymitch before being chosen for the games.
As Haymitch Said "They will not use my tears for their entertainment”
In conclusion, this is a very interesting book that challenges your morals and views of yourself. It has an exciting story with intertwined social commentary about violence in the media and conformity. But it is still very easy to read and understand. However, I do not recommend this book for anybody who has not read the other books in the “Hunger Games” series.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games#Novels
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