Publication Day at last!
Whether you purchased your copy of Sunrise at a Midnight Madness party last night or it arrived just after sunrise today, I assume that like me you’ll be listening to or reading the second Hunger Games prequel novel for a day or two.
Our custom here in the week following new releases of long anticipated books is to post Placeholder discussion pieces at which rapid readers can share their first thoughts on specific subjects. I hope to be putting up several of these the first few days before offering my first thoughts on Haymitch’s adventure in the Quarter Quell and Coriolanus Snow’s political rise.
The first of these Placeholders is a natural one — what were your first thoughts on reading Suzanne Collins’ latest? Did it meet your high bar standard and expectations for a Panem novel or were you disappointed? Let us know in the comment boxes below!
All these discussions, of course, will be chock full of spoilers and should be avoided if you don’t want to learn in advance more of the story than the great deal having already been revealed in the previous four Hunger Games pieces. Caveat lector!
Sunrise on the Reaping Placeholder Posts:
1: First Impressions — Delight or Dismay?
My first reaction is: “How could I have thought it would have a better ending?”. It makes perfect sense and is a reinforcement of the Capital’s/Snow’s power and cruelty over the districts. I then immediately had to start a re-read of the original trilogy to remind myself of Haymitch in actionand his interactions with his former friends’ daughter.
I was brought up short when Lucy Gray’s headstone lying/standing near Lenore’s was described. Weren’t we unsure of her fate at the end of Ballad? However, I suppose it doesn’t say WHEN she died. I kept thinking throughout the book that maybe Lenore was a descendent of Lucy Gray. Is that assumed? Or was she just a general covey girl?
I knew going in Haymitch’s story wasn’t going to be pleasant, but after the end I was a bit gutted. I want to re-read it again and slow down a bit and pause at a few points to ponder some of the little nuggets that seem to point back to the other stories…
Not sure what I’m feeling about the book yet!
That’s one of the “nuggets” I wanted to go back, re-read and take deeper note of; “I kept thinking throughout the book that maybe Lenore was a descendent of Lucy Gray.”. I haven’t gotten back there yet, but I believe the other graves were Maude Ivory and Lucy Gray. Also it does state that Lenore’s mother died in childbirth and that she was a Baird…So, I’m leaning towards Lenore being Lucy Gray’s daughter…maybe? Lenore’s uncle says “Not again!” when she’s poisoned – was Lucy Gray or Maude Ivory poisoned too?? I really want to go back to Ballad and note all the Covey cousins and who’s related to who. Burdoch being Lenore’s cousin make a really intriguing twist too – Katniss & Haymitch are distant relations, I think!