Origin story of good old Haymitch Abernathy. My first thought was, for a Quarter Quell Hunger Games, where there are twice as many tributes, the deaths are coming way too fast! And mostly "off camera". I thought that this Quarter Quell was going to be a drawn out death match. But these Hunger Games deaths, albeit tragic, aren't the point of this prequel. It's the laying of the foundation of Haymitch's slow burn revenge against the Capitol and the sadistic President Snow. All of the quotes and references to Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven and Lenore poems are masterful. (read less)

Origin story of good old Haymitch Abernathy. My first thought was, for a Quarter Quell Hunger Games, where there are twice as many tributes, the deaths are coming way too fast! And mostly "off camera". I thought that this Quarter Quell was going to be a drawn out death match. But these Hunger Games deaths, albeit tragic, aren't the point of this prequel. It's the laying of the foundation (read more)

Haymitch Abernathy was never supposed to be a tribute in the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. He was meant to just get the reaping over with and spend his sixteenth birthday with his love, Lenore Dove. But that all changed when one of the boy tributes of District 12 tried making a break for it and was shot dead. By the end of this July 4th, Haymitch was on a one-way train to the Capitol as one of the 48 tributes in the Hunger Games. Before all hope can be lost however, he meets the twelve-year-old Ampert from District 3 and his father Beetee during the training days leading up to the games. Ampert works to form an alliance of all the non-Careers so that for once, a Career doesn’t become a victor. Like son, like father, Beetee works with Haymitch to formulate a plan to destroy the arena. Things may be different because of the doubled amount of tributes, but they also become different because this time, a rebellion is just beginning. Once again, this installment of the series further proves that Suzanne Collins only writes when she has something to say. The issue of censorship was very prevalent and every time someone tried to speak out against the government, it was completely erased. There were even a bunch of propaganda posters all over the place saying that there was no peace without the games and President Snow was the #1 Peacekeeper. This book also did a really good job connecting The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to the original trilogy, with subtle details planted all over the place. Though, the best part of reading this was knowing about a bunch of details beforehand and knowing how certain things were going to happen. Like how the rebellion doesn’t work out very well, how Haymitch loses everything, how the arena is a volcano. This was a really fun read, and I absolutely cannot wait for the movie next year! (read less)

Haymitch Abernathy was never supposed to be a tribute in the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. He was meant to just get the reaping over with and spend his sixteenth birthday with his love, Lenore Dove. But that all changed when one of the boy tributes of District 12 tried making a break for it and was shot dead. By the end of this July 4th, Haymitch (read more)