Lit Vibes Only
Kelsey and Amanda are two book besties who love to "Lit the Sh*t" out of books they love and hate! In their Lit it or Quit It episodes, Kelsey and Amanda are forced to read the other's favorite books. While Amanda loves to read historical fiction and mystery/thrillers, you'll find Kelsey curled up with just about any romantasy. They discuss the books at length and, in the end, decide whether the book is a "Lit It" or "Quit It"! Every month they'll also give some book recs you just can't miss. Look out for the bonus episodes about bookish topics and books that were adapted into movies/shows.
Listen in and choose whose side you're on, or perhaps find yourself intrigued by a book you wouldn't normally go for. See you on Mondays!
Lit Vibes Only
Ep. 39: Lit It or Quit It: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Join Kelsey and Amanda as they dive into the gut-wrenching and gruesome details of Hamish Abernathy's backstory in 'Sunrise on the Reaping'. Brace yourself for a whirlwind of dark humor, song critique, and heartfelt commentary on why this prequel is both a devastating and nostalgic ride for Hunger Games fans.
00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only
00:49 Social Media and Podcast Promotion
04:47 Current Reads
12:42 Summary of Sunrise on the Reaping
07:53 Book Discussion: The Reformatory
26:48 Book Discussion: Sunrise on the Reaping
49:43 Final Recommendations
50:43 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst
01:04:19 Wrapping up and Final Thoughts
Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!
See you on Mondays!
Ep. 39: Lit It or Quit It: Sunrise on the Reaping
[00:00:00] Kelsey: Welcome to Lit Vibes Only where we lit the shit outta books we love and hate. I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard romantic fantasy reader. And I'm Amanda,
[00:00:16] Amanda: the insightful, thrill seeker and historical fiction nerd. Welcome once again. Welcome to another Glad You're Here. Another Litter Quitted episode.
[00:00:25] Amanda: A particularly exciting lit Quitted episode because this is a relatively new book. It didn't just come out, but it came out like what, two months about this point? Yeah. Yeah. So it's May, yeah. So two months ago. So we're really excited. It's a very popular book and. Kelsey technically unquote, forced me to read it, but I really wanted to read.
[00:00:47] Amanda: I was gonna read it anyway. Yeah. But before that social socials, if you are not following us, you should be. We are on Instagram at Lit Vibes only podcast. And we were also on TikTok and [00:01:00] YouTube at Lit Vibes only podcast. So if you're not following us, pause this podcast right here.
[00:01:06] Amanda: Go over and do that, and then come right back. We'll be here waiting for you. And then. If you haven't also taken a moment to rate and or review, or both our podcast on either Apple Podcast or Spotify, please do that. We would really appreciate it. Yes. We, I feel like we're starting to get like a little bit of momentum going, especially with TikTok and building hundred following there.
[00:01:31] Amanda: Yes. And so we would love for all of those new folks who are out there listening to let us know what you think about what we're doing and rating and reviewing as a great way to do that and spread the word about what we're up to over here at Lead Vibes. So thank you in advance or those ratings and reviews.
[00:01:48] Amanda: But I think Kelsey, your goal was you wanted us to hit 500 by your birthday on TikTok followers, and we far surpassed that at that point. At this point we totally
[00:01:57] Kelsey: did.
[00:01:58] Amanda: So that's exciting. [00:02:00] Yes. We're like creeping our way to towards 700. Gosh. Which again I understand if you're like. A TikTok influencer and you have thousands of followers, you're like, okay, whatever.
[00:02:09] Amanda: 600 is not a big deal. But for us, starting from
[00:02:12] Kelsey: scratch, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. You guys, we started this back in September. Yeah. And we still are like trying to figure things out. You know, we're not media specialists and so we are. Absolutely just learning on the job and Oh, figure
[00:02:28] Amanda: we're building the ship to,
[00:02:30] Kelsey: yeah.
[00:02:31] Kelsey: And so our latest videos that we have been doing where we do more trend stuff and reviews and where it's less of. US two I'm curious if people like only see Amanda's video or Kelsey's video and is like, oh yeah, I really like this. Reader's interest and then they see a video of the other person and they're like, wait, what the fuck?
[00:02:51] Amanda: I thought I was following a romantic
[00:02:54] Kelsey: or vice versa. And so I'm curious how people find us [00:03:00] and how they stay and whether or not they know we're a podcast. And I'm wondering, how we could better that if people have advice or suggestions on that. If they've seen our social media. I
[00:03:10] Amanda: mean it does say that we're a podcast in our handle.
[00:03:14] Amanda: Yes. Which is helpful. And I think, I don't know if people do this for me, when I go to a new TikTok account or new TikTok profile, I look at their pinned posts if they have them. Totally. 'cause that for me is like the starting point. It's like, Hey, start here. Yes. Click your first. So hopefully they're doing that.
[00:03:29] Amanda: 'cause our two pinned. Posts are about our podcast. Yeah. Our, about our podcast. Yeah. Like here's our upcoming episodes and like here's a little trailer for who we are. Yeah. So I'm hoping folks are doing that
[00:03:39] Kelsey: well. So I think some people are, but I've been noticing every once in a while someone will like our podcast trailer, you know?
[00:03:46] Kelsey: Yeah. On there, but it's not getting like a ton of views. So that's what makes me worried is like, oh yeah, some people are doing that, but not all. And yeah, so we're a podcast. See, we'll see how it goes. I think, I know [00:04:00] I'm wondering Go ahead. Go ahead. If we should put it in the comments, like, every time, check out our podcast, da.
[00:04:05] Kelsey: I don't know.
[00:04:06] Amanda: I maybe, but definitely spread the word. If you are listening to this podcast and you really enjoy it, word of mouth is a great way for us to get new followers.
[00:04:15] Amanda: If you're enjoying it, if you enjoy our crazy little banter on our discussions, send your friends and colleagues, neighbors this way. Totally. We love to have them join. 'cause we're having a great time. And again, our stuff on our socials. It's, you know, not always directly related to the podcast. So it's a lot of other fun content, just like fun, bookish stuff.
[00:04:37] Amanda: Us being silly. I posted some really silly ones this weekend. Yeah. So just come hang out with us. Come have fun. We're enjoying it. We would love more folks to enjoy this venture with us. But with that said, Kelsey, what are you currently reading?
[00:04:51] Kelsey: I'm currently reading When the Moon Was Ours by Anna Marie Mc, like m [00:05:00] lemore, I think is how you say it.
[00:05:03] Amanda: How is it spelled?
[00:05:05] Kelsey: Can you hold it up? M-C-L-E-M-O-R-E-M, McLemore.
[00:05:11] Amanda: Macklemore.
[00:05:13] Kelsey: I don't think it's Macklemore. Maybe because sometimes
[00:05:15] Amanda: people pronounce that, that m with yeah, I know.
[00:05:18] Amanda: Yeah, it could be. It's
[00:05:19] Kelsey: Macklemore. And I actually have book club today. Yay. That was a good book club. Like, we're reading this book together. I actually haven't finished it yet though. I was in a mad dash to read Sunrise on the ing, which actually was shorter than I thought it was. Yeah. Yep, that's right.
[00:05:39] Kelsey: So it wasn't actually very long. But this book does not have an audio book, which is how I am able to get through books more quickly. Oh. And when my weeks are busy. So like I said to Amanda earlier before recording, like I was at interviews really late on Wednesday, it was my birthday on Monday, and my friend got married on [00:06:00] Friday, like all these big events.
[00:06:02] Kelsey: And so, I didn't have a lot of sit down time for reading. Yeah. So I did start it last weekend though, and it was, yeah it's a slower paced book than I usually pick up, but it's. Really beautiful writing. And what literally do my ears literary. Like see me, what is
[00:06:22] Amanda: happening right now?
[00:06:23] Amanda: Kelsey's talking about beautiful writing.
[00:06:25] Kelsey: It's definitely more of Amanda's vibe than my vibe.
[00:06:29] Amanda: Is it like, is it literary fiction? Is that the genre?
[00:06:32] Kelsey: No. Like what is, what's
[00:06:33] Amanda: the genre?
[00:06:34] Kelsey: I actually don't know. I thought it was more fantasy, but, oh, it's, I think it's more like, because the, okay.
[00:06:43] Kelsey: One of the characters is a Oh, from like, like, which is like a from,
[00:06:48] Amanda: yeah. A dealer. Yeah. Right.
[00:06:51] Kelsey: So it feels more like mystical realism rather than like fantasy. Oh, okay. That's 'cause they're in like the real world. Yeah. What did I say? Mystical realism. [00:07:00] Oh, whatever.
[00:07:01] Kelsey: Magical realism. Same thing in my brain. Going down the list. Okay, go
[00:07:07] Amanda: ahead.
[00:07:07] Kelsey: But then there's also this character who has like roses growing out of her wrists and like it's interesting. Yeah. It
[00:07:16] Amanda: does sound like magical realism. Yeah. It sounds like what is that book like, like Water for Chocolate?
[00:07:21] Amanda: That, I dunno if you remember me talking that one. No, I talked about it on the podcast. But yeah, it does sound a little bit like magical realism. Okay. Yeah, that's, that sounds fascinating. Yeah, I'd ne I'd never heard of that book. Me neither. Yeah. One of the great things about the club and also
[00:07:35] Kelsey: this author has a ton of books.
[00:07:37] Kelsey: So it's not her only one. Yeah. She's a pretty popular author. I guess I.
[00:07:42] Amanda: Sweet. I'll have to check her out. I think you would like it, it sounds like my kind of book for sure. Yeah. Love beautiful writing. I feel like every single time we do these, and I think it's because I obviously do a fair amount of reading on the weekend.
[00:07:53] Amanda: I've always just finished a book, like literally last night I finished the Reformatory by [00:08:00] 10 Reve Do, which I've been talking about on our socials, the genre is horror. But I didn't find it scary at all. It almost felt like a historical fiction novel with some magical realism because there are ghosts, or they're called hates in this book because it's like in the South.
[00:08:15] Amanda: But I didn't find it scary at all. I think the scary thing is the violence that happened in the book towards these boys. So it takes place at a reformed school in Florida, a real reform school. It's based on the Doser School for boys that white and black boys were sent to. Basically as like juvenile detention.
[00:08:32] Amanda: Right. But it was horrible. Like kids were murdered, they were beaten, starve. Like it was awful. And so she basically took that place and crafted this story around it. And so it very much ties into racism in the south and just the violence Got it. Of the history of Florida in regards to slavery and racism.
[00:08:49] Amanda: Yeah. And so it, it was sounds intense, incredibly heartbreaking, very intense, very heavy, but so well written. And it was a book I'd been anticipating reading for a very long time. So I'm glad I finally got [00:09:00] to it. So I just finished that and I'm to, it wasn't a five star
[00:09:03] Kelsey: read for
[00:09:04] Amanda: you, it was absolutely a five star read.
[00:09:06] Amanda: I will be putting out a book review on it this week on our socials. So again, check out our socials, although I guess at this point when you listen to this podcast, it'll have been a while. But yeah, it was everything I was hoping for and more. It's based on the same school that The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.
[00:09:21] Amanda: Oh. Like that book. So it's the same. Yeah. They both wrote books about the same school. 'cause it's awful. It didn't shut down to like the nineties, I think, which is wild.
[00:09:29] Amanda: So yeah, so I read that and then, oh, go ahead. Go ahead.
[00:09:31] Kelsey: I was just gonna say like, connection to boarding schools. Oh yeah.
[00:09:34] Kelsey: For indigenous folks. She there still boarding schools like open. Yeah. You know, and it's not like how it was necessarily back when they started Yeah. People were being murdered and raped and killed, you know, all those things. But they're still open. Yeah. And that's still very much a thing and part of yeah.
[00:09:53] Kelsey: Possible trajectory.
[00:09:54] Amanda: She talks about that in, her authors know the, and she's like, even though this story is based on the Doser School for boys, she's like, I wanted it to be an [00:10:00] amalgamation of these schools, the kinda indigenous boarding schools where kids were taken to basically have their culture, ripped away from them.
[00:10:05] Amanda: She's like all of those institutions. Very much, we're using very similar horrific practices and on children. So yeah, it's a heavy read, but ugh. So good. Such a, I think important read as well. 'cause a lot of folks just don't know that history. Yeah. And so, yeah, I just finished that and then I'm gonna start reading a very different book maybe today if I have Time.
[00:10:27] Amanda: Blue Sisters by Coco Millers. And it's about a group of sisters. Very different. But it should be interesting.
[00:10:33] Amanda: I enjoy books about sisterhood since I grew up in a house full of boys, but we'll see. We'll see if it's my, because you're like, what is that? Like? Yeah. What is, I mean, I guess I wasn't a sorority and college like guys, I got that. Yeah.
[00:10:45] Kelsey: Yeah.
[00:10:46] Amanda: And I have a fair amount of female friends now, but yeah, that's what I am finished reading and what I'm gonna read.
[00:10:53] Amanda: But let's dive into it. So, Kelsey, even though you didn't force me to read it, we're gonna [00:11:00] follow the same format that we always do. Kelsey, why did you choose this book?
[00:11:05] Kelsey: Oh my gosh. Okay. So Sunrise on the reaping we read because it was a very what is the word? The release of it was very, anticipated and anticipated, highly anticipated release. Thank you. And I have loved the world of the Hunger Games. So I read the pre, the other prequel that came out, what, a couple years ago? The Sun, the Songbird, the Ballad of Songbirds
[00:11:31] Amanda: and Snakes.
[00:11:31] Kelsey: Yeah, that one.
[00:11:32] Kelsey: I loved that one. And then the movie that came out afterwards. Oh my gosh, that was so good. , and I just love the mocking what, not the Mockingbird, the Hunger Dancing Universe. This. this is Hamish's story. Okay. And then , when it was released, people came out and they were just like, this is a heartbreaking story. You have to read it now. You was so excited about it. So those are the reasons why we read it.
[00:11:57] Amanda: Okay. That's, yeah, those are good reasons.
[00:11:59] Amanda: I think you [00:12:00] also have a question to ask me.
[00:12:03] Kelsey: So Amanda, was this a lit it or quit it for you? Short answer,
[00:12:08] Amanda: yeah, definitely a lit it like obvious, like Kelsey very much did not force me to read this book. We were both planning to treat it. We're both very excited to treat it.
[00:12:15] Amanda: We've enjoyed the Hunger Games books. So yeah, definitely a lit it for me. I think I did end up giving it five stars. Yeah,
[00:12:23] Kelsey: this is still a win for me though. This still counts. No. As a lit, yeah, it a hundred percent does. No, because you already knew in advance that I wanted to read it was gonna like it.
[00:12:33] Kelsey: Like that's But didn't know you were gonna give it five stars. Yeah, no. Well, it
[00:12:38] Amanda: was gonna be either four or five. Like it's a hundred games, but Okay, fine. Whatever. Anyhow, let's jump into the summary for this book. Let's do it. It's not a super long book, but it's a Hunger Games book, so there's a lot happening.
[00:12:51] Amanda: So much
[00:12:52] Kelsey: happens.
[00:12:52] Amanda: So as Kelsey said, this is Hamit Abernathy's story and he, if you've only read or [00:13:00] watched the movies like the first three, you'll know that he's the mentor for Kane and the other folks from District 12. So it's his story. It takes place during the 50th Hunger game. So this is the second quarter quail, and because it's the 50th and it's like a big anniversary date for the capital, they've decided like the best way to celebrate would be to double the number of tributes who are going to this game.
[00:13:23] Amanda: So, we find hamit living in District 12 with his mom and his younger brother, Sid. And the, you know, the reaping comes around and while they're at. The reaping. There is an incident where one of the young men who is called, whose name is called tries to make a break for it. It turns into this huge scuffle and in the process of doing this, hey Mitch's love, who is Lenore Dove, who is a relation to Lucy Gray Baird.
[00:13:59] Amanda: [00:14:00] Baird, I think Bard yeah. From the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. She goes in there and tries to, helps save this. Young man from the peacekeepers who are accosting him. And long story short, that young man ends up dying. And because Hamit got involved because he was basically trying to protect Lenoir, they're like, Hey you're actually gonna take the place of this young man and go to the Hunger games instead.
[00:14:29] Amanda: So that's how he ends up in the Hunger games. , His name actually wasn't drawn. He just basically off the people in power, and that's how he ended up going. So of course he's devastated. He's heartbroken to have to leave his great love and his mom and his younger brother. One of the things to know about Lenore Dove is that kind of similar to Lucy, you know, she is hotheaded and independent and very much about.
[00:14:55] Amanda: Overthrowing the capital and not just maintaining the status quo and [00:15:00] going along with this horrible existence that they've been given. She's very much against the Hunger Games and the reaping, and she finds ways to act out and protest. And she's already been, I think basically briefly imprisoned twice at the start this book for her actions against the Capitol.
[00:15:19] Amanda: So she is at least in the eyes of the Capitol, a troublemaker. And not afraid to speak out for what she believes in. She's also a talented musician, like the rest of her family, and enjoys singing songs. One of the things to note is that her namesake is the. Featured the woman in Edgar Allen Pose novel, the Raven.
[00:15:40] Amanda: And so that poem is recited throughout the book in different excerpts. So, just a little note for literature lovers. So he heads up to the capitol. The other folks who end up going with him are Lulo, who's a young girl who he sees as his younger sister since he never had a younger sister.
[00:15:56] Amanda: Mais, who is a twin, and she's stuck up [00:16:00] snobby, wealthy girl, and Wyatt, who is an odds maker. And so he's very good at figuring out the odds of. What is likely or not likely to happen. So, very much in a probability and he's very good at it. One of the fun things about Nasally, which we can talk about in our discussion is that she is the original owner of the mocking jade pin that we see pop up later in Kane's story.
[00:16:22] Amanda: So I thought that was great.
[00:16:23] Amanda: So they end up heading off to the Capitol because they're District 12. Nobody really cares about them. Their stylist is a hot mess. And as they're preparing for the opening parade there is another incident in which Luella, the youngest of the four District 12 tributes is killed.
[00:16:46] Amanda: And of course Hamish is absolutely heartbroken. He wants to make sure that her death isn't just covered up and swept under the rug. And so he makes a point of taking Luella's, broken dead body and essentially depositing it on the [00:17:00] steps of President's nose. House, which doesn't go well. President Snow does not like that.
[00:17:06] Amanda: And later on, hamit is called to Plutarch. So Plutarch shows up in this book. Plutarch Heavens be shows up to Plutarch Heavens Be's Mansion. He's called there. And while there, president Snow shows up and basically has found this girl who is a doppelganger, a lookalike for Luella McCoy is like, this is the new Luella and we're gonna pretend that nothing ever happened and you need to go along with this.
[00:17:32] Amanda: And she's like this poor girl who's basically been drugged to yeah. Play along with this whole charade. So, you know, things are not going well with this stylist whose name I'm blanking on for whatever reason. I dunno. If you remember Kelsey Magna Magnus Mag Magno. Mink maybe. Yeah. Mink, something like that.
[00:17:49] Amanda: Magno, I think. Yeah. And he is, yeah, he's just not reliable. He shows up and he's just like, he's just a hot mess. And so, eventually Effy shows up to replace him. So [00:18:00] Effy is again, another person that you should recognize from the Hunger Games. She ends up becoming their stylist because Magno can't get his shit together and basically helps them prepare for, their big interview.
[00:18:11] Amanda: And because they're District 12, because they're already gonna struggle to get folks to sponsor them, she basically, along with virus and Mags, who are their actual mentors, tells Hamish that in order to get. Sponsors, he should play this whole like rascal role, like he's a bad boy, et cetera.
[00:18:31] Amanda: And he does that and it's pretty effective. Also during this time, they're all in training and while they're in training, they're scoping out the other districts and trying to see if they should make alliances and what the story is. And this is where we meet a young boy named Amert. Amert is the son of I think a district, I don't remember which district his dad is from, but his name is bt.
[00:18:52] Amanda: It's, it is district three. Okay. Yeah. District three and Beatie. Yeah. Beatie. District three. And his name's Beatie. [00:19:00] And because he engaged in an act against the Capitol, he's being punished by having his son in the reaping. So, Amport goes around and basically gets a bunch of the districts to form an alliance against the careers.
[00:19:14] Amanda: Right. So those are folks from like district one. In district two and their goal is like, if we band together and support each other, maybe we'll have a chance.
Yeah. At
[00:19:21] Amanda: the same time, BT is also along with plu TAR working with Hamit to be like, Hey, you could, you know, carry out an active sabotage while you're in the game.
[00:19:33] Amanda: The game can be broken. Like anything can be broken. And so they develop this plan, they hatch this plan to flood the arena. And they give hamit all of the tools that he needs in order to do that. Hamit doesn't tell anybody else about this plan, so it's really just him and Amper that are in on it.
[00:19:50] Amanda: And because of that, when they do finally get to the arena and the game start, he decides to separate himself from the rest of the [00:20:00] alliance that they form. I think they call themselves the newcomers. So it's like the newcomers versus like these career folks and. So he goes off on his own to carry out this mission because he doesn't wanna endanger anybody else's lives while they're in the arena.
[00:20:12] Amanda: So he essentially goes off by himself. And again, I'm not gonna get into a ton of the details 'cause you should read the book yourself, but he goes off on his own and runs into l Lulu. So, like Luella's fake her decoy essentially. She ends up dying, I think she ends up getting like poison.
[00:20:30] Amanda: Poison and hails poisoned from some flowers. She dies. So now he's alone and he ends up finding the entrance to get underneath the arena so he can flood. Right. This area amper shows up so that he can help him carry this task. 'cause they need to work together to blow it up. They do in fact blow it up.
[00:20:49] Amanda: They do cause a flood. But in the process, the game makers release these mutts, which are like these freaking terrifying squirrels. Oh my God. Yes. That [00:21:00] literally, I mean they eat amper, the flesh like down to the bone, like all that has left is his skeleton. So that's just really horrifying and so really horrible.
[00:21:10] Amanda: Yes. Like technically Hamit has completed his task and like blown up this water tank, but it wasn't enough to completely shut down the game. So now he is like, great, I did this thing. It didn't quite work. ER's dead. Now what? So long story short, obviously folks are dying all throughout this on both sides.
[00:21:28] Amanda: Yeah. And he ends up getting reunited with Maisie. And honestly, at this point we realized Maisie is like not a snobby, stuck up bitch. She's actually quite great. Yeah. And I really liked her. We'll get to that later. So he's like, you know, is there something else we can do to bring down this game? And he does know that there's a generator on the outskirts of the arena, which he does find.
But it's surrounded by has a force field . So he's not able to do anything to destroy [00:22:00] it. So again, there's a, just a lot of back and forth. There's a lot of these moments where they encounter other careers at one point. He and Masley are together. Some careers show up.
[00:22:09] Amanda: Some game makers are there because there was an issue with the arena based on the flooding that happened. And so they're in the arena. And so the Hunger Games contestants use this opportunity, particularly Maisie and one of the careers, I think her name is Marie and kill some of the game makers .
[00:22:27] Amanda: Which is like, oh, like never been done before. As payback for that both Mari and Maisie are killed by mutts that are released on them. And so Maisie also ends up dying at this point. The only other newcomer that is still alive is Wellie, who's like this tiny little girl. She's basically been hiding up in a tree this entire time.
[00:22:49] Amanda: Hey, Mitch finds her. She's not in a good way. Long story short. While he's off collecting like firewood in order to feed the starving child, one of [00:23:00] the other career shows up silica and behead her. So that's the end of that. He and silica then like get into it, have this huge fight. They end of buy the generators, Hamit Snow knows there's a force field there.
[00:23:15] Amanda: So if you throw something at the generator, it's gonna bounce back at you off the force field. And I believe it's an ax that Silka ends up throwing. It ends up missing. Hamid goes down, hits the force field on the generator, comes back up and , I believe lodges in her head. I think so. Yeah. And so she's, she is done for and all the while Hamit has realized he's got a little bit of explosive left, explosives left.
[00:23:41] Amanda: So he also at the same time is . Setting off this huge explosion and kind of the last thing he remembers is blacking out after all of this. He wakes up. Yeah. 'cause
[00:23:49] Kelsey: he got injured
[00:23:50] Amanda: from, he got injured pretty badly from the explosion. And well, no, he had
[00:23:53] Kelsey: a
[00:23:53] Amanda: oh, we got a cut, not a cut.
[00:23:55] Amanda: Silica. Yeah, she, sorry, she like cut his guts open. I forgot. Yeah. Thank you. [00:24:00] So between that and the explosion, everything else has happened to him in a bad way? Yeah. He basically is taken back to, I don't know, gamekeepers are game, the game makers like hq, they basically keep him under lock and key as he heels and, yep, go ahead.
[00:24:14] Amanda: Also,
[00:24:14] Kelsey: another part is that he is assumed that he was not going to make it like he was assuming that he was gonna die, which is why he was doing these things. And why in the end he's like, well fuck it I'm dying anyway.
[00:24:26] Amanda: Yeah, he definitely had zero intentions of making it out of the Hunger Games alive.
[00:24:29] Amanda: Yeah. Which is fair. He does survive and is again, basically kept prisoner by the capitol as he's healing and President Snow at this point is basically using him as a puppet and it's like, you need to do what I say because if you don't you know, I'm gonna harm your family. And I'm trying to think what else he threatened him with in order to keep him in line and play the part of like the happy victor.
[00:24:54] Amanda: Yeah. But essentially he is finally released from the capital after doing a little victory [00:25:00] lap and making an appearance on television and Yeah. You know, playing the part. He gets sent home. With the three dead bodies of the folks that he came with, right? He gets home and almost immediately after arriving, he finds out that his family home has burned down with his mother and his brother in it.
[00:25:18] Amanda: So he has just lost his family pretty much as soon as he gets back home. Yeah. And then his one kind of like. Light in the darkness. I is Lenore, right? She's still there. She's just alive, released alive. She's still alive. She's like being held by the peacekeepers. So they have this reunion and I'm like, oh my God, thank goodness.
[00:25:37] Amanda: This is the Hunger Games that has a happy ending. And, just as they're getting together, she finds a bag of gum drops, which is like her favorite candy on the ground. And she assumes that Hamit has left it there for her while he's waiting for her to arrive. And so she eats, or, he actually feeds one to her actually.
[00:25:54] Amanda: Oh my God. Yeah. But needless to say, the gum drops have been put there by President Snow's cronies. They're [00:26:00] poison. Lenore literally dies in his arms and Hamit is done for like, he's just done. Like that was the final straw that broke the camel's back. He ends up turning to alcohol to just. Smother the hurt and pain, and that's it.
[00:26:15] Amanda: And that's kinda how the story ends. He isolates himself and everyone is like living alone in the Victors village. But then there's an epilogue where we see that, you know, Hamish has essentially been telling this story to Katniss and Pita about his past and his experience.
[00:26:28] Amanda: He's now in a much better place. He's found some peace. And so it does end on a happy ish note, but this book is Yeah. Devastating as all the Hunger Games books are. My God. So that's, oh my God. In a nutshell. It's a quick read though. And if you love the Hunger Games, you should definitely read it.
[00:26:45] Amanda: 'cause I feel like it's very much on par. With her other books.
[00:26:48] Kelsey: Yeah, for sure. Oh my God. I was just tearing up just like, ugh,
[00:26:53] Amanda: the whole leor scene. I was like, yeah, that's what got me. I didn't cry at any other point in the book. And then that one I was like, wait, what? [00:27:00] Are you kidding me? I was like, but of course it had to happen.
[00:27:02] Amanda: It can't be happy ending. It's a hot mess in the Hunger, in the original Hunger. So, oh my God. Yeah, he was a hom mess his drunk
[00:27:11] Kelsey: self.
[00:27:12] Amanda: Yeah. Think it's got to Oh, I can understand why.
[00:27:16] Kelsey: Yeah. God, where do we even start
[00:27:20] Amanda: with the positives? You have to ask me what I liked about it.
[00:27:24] Kelsey: Oh. But is there anything you didn't like about
[00:27:26] Amanda: it?
[00:27:28] Amanda: No, I mean, you know, obviously I had to find some one star reviews for later in this episode when we talk about are literally the best and literally the worst.
[00:27:36] Kelsey: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Amanda: And so I know what some other folks had issues with, but Okay. I think because I, so I don't know about you, but I did not do a reread of the Hunger Games books before this.
[00:27:46] Amanda: And I will also say, and I've mentioned this in a previous episode, I've only read the Second and the Third Hunger Games books. I didn't read the first one 'cause I didn't realize when the movie came out, I was completely oblivious to the fact that they were books. Oh yeah. I was like, oh, this is [00:28:00] like a cool movie.
[00:28:01] Amanda: And then I found out it's book series and then I was like, okay, well now I wanna read it. And I don't read books after I've watched the movie. So then I just jumped right in and read the second and third books. And then again, because I didn't really, wasn't really following Suzanne Collins.
[00:28:11] Amanda: I actually didn't know. That she had published the ballot of songbirds and snakes. So again, I was like, oh, well the movie's out. Lemme just go watch the movie. So I haven't read that one either. So I've read the second, the third, and then this book, and then watched the movies did read. And then I watched the movies for the first Hunger Games and the ballot of songbirds and snakes.
[00:28:28] Amanda: So just wanna like, oh
[00:28:29] Kelsey: my God, I throw that out there. Yeah, exactly. That one was so good. Yeah.
[00:28:34] Amanda: I mean, movie. Oh my gosh. You one. So I can just imagine. Imagine I, yeah, I probably should read it. Oh. I did end up reading like a summary of it just to see like what was missing from the movie. But I feel like the movie did a really good job of incorporating a lot of it.
[00:28:48] Amanda: Because I was reading through the book somewhere was like, oh yeah, almost all this was in the movie. But with that said, I think some folks felt like there was a lot of rat conning in this [00:29:00] book that didn't quite make sense. So basically making characters in this book. Behave in a way or have interactions that didn't track with how they showed up in the original hunker games books.
[00:29:13] Amanda: Oh I see. And again, I didn't find that to be an issue, but again maybe if I had gone back and reread the books and it was like fresher in my mind. Yeah. Like, oh yeah. Like plu tar would never act this way. Right. Or like, it doesn't make any sense to have Effie doing this, or whatever it might be.
[00:29:28] Amanda: But for me personally, there were no things I was like, oh, I don't like this about the book. I think the only thing that I thought was perhaps strange, and I dunno if it was necessary, was like there were a lot of songs in the book. So many songs. Oh yeah. Right. Like every chapter, there was a song and I wasn't sure if that was.
[00:29:47] Amanda: Yeah, if it was necessary, like a couple great, like literally a song, every chapter it did feel like too much and that they lost their, I don't know, their power, so to speak, by having so [00:30:00] many of them, like, I felt like they lost their effectiveness as a device by having so many. Yeah. Especially 'cause again, this is a book and it's not a movie.
[00:30:09] Amanda: And so like, we're not hearing it. Like when you hear that song from the Ballad of songbirds and snakes, it's so moving. Right? Yeah. The hanging tree. But reading lyrics in a book doesn't quite move you in the same way. It's great and it's poetry, and I love poetry. I don't think I needed as much of it in this book.
[00:30:25] Amanda: So I guess that's my one.
[00:30:27] Kelsey: My one, yeah. I think that was like a huge tie to the, it was of songbirds, but it was too much. I think it was too much. There was a lot of it, but, but so I would listen to the book. Okay. And it, it was in the narrator's voice, so it wasn't like. Beautiful or anything.
[00:30:43] Kelsey: Okay. It was just that person, talk, singing. I dunno if you spread that. Oh, I don't think you like that. But when it came up, I was envisioning the album from Yeah, the Ballad of Songbirds. Yeah. Oh, same. Yeah. Because I was like, I fell in [00:31:00] love with that album and that soundtrack.
[00:31:02] Kelsey: Yeah. It's beautiful. Beautiful. So. Yeah, absolutely. Or like when he saw the video of Lucy Gray Yes. And she was singing her ballet s
[00:31:11] Amanda: song. Yeah.
[00:31:12] Kelsey: I loved that. That was, yeah. I was like, it immediately transported back. Yeah.
[00:31:18] Amanda: But it makes me think, 'cause obviously she wrote this book after the movie came out and and I wonder was she just like oh, that song did so well, me put more in this book. , so now I'll have even like a
[00:31:28] Kelsey: better soundtrack 'cause there's like more original songs. So also this like a marketing ploy as well.
[00:31:34] Kelsey: Like let Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure she, at this point she is, she's like, okay, envisioning it in a movie, right? Oh yeah. Like this is gonna be a movie, so how can I make it. Yeah. So it translate to screen really well. Yeah, no, totally.
[00:31:50] Amanda: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
[00:31:51] Kelsey: But I don't mind it.
[00:31:52] Amanda: Yeah I mean, I didn't mind it as much either.
[00:31:55] Amanda: And like, honestly, The Raven, I love that poem, so I didn't mind that they like went through the whole thing at the end, I think [00:32:00] it would've been helpful if it wasn't quite as much. I think it would've been more impactful, but with that said, it wasn't a bad thing, per se.
[00:32:06] Amanda: Yeah. But yeah I, that's really my only sort of complaint with the book. I think the other thing that I'll say, which isn't a complaint either, but, and we talked about this, is that when I told people on our socials we're reading this book and was like putting out, you know, some videos and things about it, everyone was like, oh my God, you're gonna be so devastated.
[00:32:25] Amanda: Your heart is gonna be ripped to shred. Like, the worst, most heartbreaking thing you've ever read. And so I went into that book, well, embracing myself and with that expectation. Yeah. And it wasn't that
[00:32:35] Kelsey: bad. Yeah. And someone said. Specifically think of Ru's death and 10 times worse.
[00:32:41] Kelsey: Yeah. I was like, what? Yeah, and I didn't feel that, I didn't feel as connected to , the characters that died.
Yeah. The only
[00:32:48] Kelsey: one that hit me was Lenore's death that I was like, oh my. Yeah. That's the only one I cried at for hamit. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:32:55] Amanda: I think for me it was more the horror of their death.
[00:32:58] Amanda: Like, well, decap, the is [00:33:00] awful decapitation. Like the way that they died are like, yeah, like literally Amber getting eaten by squirrels. Like that hit me. Like the horror and the gore did, oh,
[00:33:07] Kelsey: the, what was it, the duck or the goose that like ran into it? Was it Maisie's throat?
[00:33:13] Amanda: Oh yeah. I was like stab. Yeah.
[00:33:14] Amanda: Like stabbing her with it still. Yes. Like, or speak. I mean, yeah, like the deaths were definitely gruesome and so if people were, I think if people have been like, oh, the deaths were really horrific, I'd been like, yeah, spot on. But yeah I guess I didn't feel quite as connected to the characters and Yeah.
[00:33:31] Amanda: You know, obviously in the Hunger games you're sticking with characters for longer and building relationships with them for longer. Some of them. But yeah, it was only Lenore that really got me. I think honestly, Maisy got me a little bit 'cause I did appreciate her character arc. Yeah. And the fact that she shows up as this snobby little rich girl and you find out she's actually quite independent and headstrong and speaks her mind and like doesn't take anybody's shit.
[00:33:55] Amanda: And I loved that. But also this really sweet side, like, she's making tokens for [00:34:00] folks to take into the arena with them. Looking out for others and standing up for them and seeing her transform, like she actually ended up being one of my favorite characters in the book.
[00:34:09] Amanda: Yeah.
[00:34:09] Kelsey: She was a great character. Yeah. Totally.
[00:34:12] Amanda: Yeah.
[00:34:12] Kelsey: Ugh. So I appreciated that. And you know what, thinking about the timeline of everything, so Lucy Gray won the 10th game. Yes. Right? And so it was really only 15 years later that this was happening. And he had already
[00:34:27] Amanda: Yeah.
[00:34:27] Amanda: Well this is the 50th, this is the 50th Hunger game. Oh, it's 40 years. Oh, okay. It's so, it's a lot longer.
[00:34:34] Kelsey: Yeah.
[00:34:35] Amanda: So, yeah.
[00:34:35] Kelsey: Oh, Uhhuh. Okay. I was thinking it was the 25th. Yeah. No. Yeah. It's the second
[00:34:40] Amanda: quarter quail. Yeah.
[00:34:41] Kelsey: Okay. So, dang. So how old would he be? He was 18 at that point, right?
[00:34:47] Kelsey: Yeah. So he was like 58. Yeah. Uhhuh. Damn. He's like super
[00:34:51] Amanda: old when Catniss is like doing
[00:34:54] Kelsey: y Yeah, he's like in his seventies, I guess. Yeah, he's old. Yeah. Yeah. 80 maybe. Probably [00:35:00] 80. Okay. Okay. Interesting. I'm just like, trying to think of that and like Turing put it all together. Yeah, I put it all together because at the end of Songbirds and Snakes, that one, you wonder like what exactly happened to Lucy grave to
[00:35:16] Amanda: Lucy?
[00:35:17] Kelsey: Yeah. And in the end, Hamit finds Leno's grave and leno's grave is right next to Lucy's tos. To Lucy's. Yeah. And so I was thinking about that. I was like, what is the timeline? Okay, so it's how many years later? 30 years later. Then after. After what? After? No, it's 40. You said it's 40.
[00:35:35] Kelsey: Yeah. So then she died, at least within that timeline, right? Like, we don't know. Exactly what happened to her.
[00:35:42] Amanda: Yeah. We still don't really know. I still, but at least we do know that she's dead at this point. Or maybe they put a fake gravestone there just to throw people off and she's out.
[00:35:50] Amanda: Or could have who
[00:35:52] Kelsey: freaking knows. Who knows. I love that mystery, but I do really like want to know, like there's a deep part of me [00:36:00] that like needs to know. Yeah. I was more connected to Lucy Gray, I think than than like characters in this book.
[00:36:06] Amanda: Yeah. I mean, I could see that. But I read the book, so Yeah.
[00:36:11] Amanda: One of the things I liked about this book is all of the little kind of. Easter egg she put in there. Like, there's a reference to the Kanu plant I like marked. It was like on page 285 , right. Like, Hamit leaves his pack in like a patch of Kanu.
[00:36:26] Amanda: And I was like, oh, like I just like those little things. Right. That connected altogether. And you know, obviously if you know the series and like the characters, that'll just be like, oh, I love that. But I think too, 'cause like I was trying to think the original Hunger Games book came out. God, I'm trying to think about how old I was, but like, and a lot of ways we've grown up with this series.
[00:36:49] Amanda: Not entirely. Like I definitely was, I must have been in college, so I wasn't like super young, but just getting like 2008, 2000. [00:37:00] Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I would've just graduated from college. Yeah. And so , I don't know, like getting to come back and revisit this world, you know, as an adult. Adult, you know, and it's so nostalgic and Oh, yeah. It didn't disappoint. Like, I think sometimes you'll revisit things maybe from previous years, and you're like, oh, it wasn't as good as I remember. Like, they try to do a remake or something and you're like, oh, what is this? But I feel like she has stayed really consistent with the quality of her books and the quality of her stories.
[00:37:26] Amanda: I mean, the thing is how many different ways can you tell the story of the Hunger Games? You know? Right. Because the premise is always essentially the same, Yik. And so I think going into this, I was a little bit worried, like, okay how is she gonna make this same quote unquote story original again, right?
[00:37:44] Amanda: Yes. For the umpteenth time. Yes. And
[00:37:46] Kelsey: yeah, go ahead. That was the thing about it is I think that did take me out a little bit because you're like, everybody's gonna die. Which is maybe why I didn't get attached to people.
Yeah, same. Same.
[00:37:56] Kelsey: Because I'm like, yeah, everybody's gonna die.
[00:37:58] Kelsey: And I know that Hamit lives [00:38:00] like, I already know this. Yeah. But , it was really more about Hamit is like, trauma essentially. Yeah. And what led up to him being so ugh. Such the person that he was when Nikki broke, broken, broke Hadis. So,
yeah. And Peter,
[00:38:15] Kelsey: so, yes. And I, so yeah. I just didn't feel like the power behind their desk was as,
[00:38:22] Amanda: because at this point, me, yeah.
[00:38:23] Amanda: Like when the Hunger Games first came out, it was so impactful, like this concept of seeing these kids and like this gladiator style. Like, like Ru what? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It was awful. Yeah. Like, no will ever forget Ru's death, right? No, but like at this point, I think we've become desensitized because you do know what to expect.
[00:38:39] Amanda: You know, children are getting slaughtered, and I feel like this book, yeah, it was more about giving us backstory in Hamid, but I think also it continued to flush out a little bit more of the history of District 12 as well, which I appreciated. It just gave us a little bit more information about it.
[00:38:57] Amanda: And the people who lived there and [00:39:00] their way of life, which I like. Yeah. Honestly like it would be, interesting , to tell the story of someone from a different district. Oh yeah, I know District 12 is like her home base. Yeah. But if she is gonna continue writing these books and expanding this world, I was like, okay, we got it District 12, like we know all about it.
[00:39:16] Amanda: It's great. Yep. There are no other victors from there. Yeah, exactly. , Because I think the other thing that came up for me is Luella. You know, the one who dies, her decoy Lulu is from District 11, I think. Yes. And you get some insights into what life is like in District 11 and I wanna know more about this group of people too, it sounds like.
[00:39:38] Amanda: They have their own trials and tribulations and their own, again, like culture and way of life and Yeah. I think I'm like we've done district 12 a lot. We get it. Totally. If you are gonna keep writing these books, Suzanne, it would be great. I would love it if Yeah, you expand it out into.
[00:39:55] Amanda: The other districts or write a book, like a prequel [00:40:00] to the hunger games I don't like, that's not a thing. Oh yeah. We
[00:40:02] Kelsey: don't even know like why, how happened did end up here? How did
[00:40:05] Amanda: this whole Panem and the districts, like, we know what's happened within that, 'cause in this book too, they make reference to life before this.
[00:40:14] Amanda: And I'm like, yeah, tell us about that. Right. Yeah. Write a killer prequel. Like I would be all over that because it wouldn't be based on the Hunger Games. Yeah. But it is connected to that world. Right. And it's a brand new story where we're not just watching a bunch of children get slaughtered.
[00:40:30] Kelsey: Yeah.
[00:40:30] Amanda: So I think that would be more compelling for me. Good.
[00:40:32] Kelsey: Totally. And then just thinking about, well, a couple things. I was just thinking about President snow and his trajectory. Thinking about all the people that we have seen so far in this series. And the extent of his torment and rain.
[00:40:49] Kelsey: Oh my God. On individual people, but then their families and then just the communities in total. Like, it is wild because you think of Beatie and [00:41:00] we didn't know that when we saw him in the Final Hunger Games. Right? Like we didn't know his story at all. Which was really cool to see.
[00:41:08] Kelsey: Yeah. Part of. And then Mags was there, and then what is her name? Ris Uhhuh. And how she won the Hunger Games. And then yeah, it's just like. Each of those people have their own like torment story. Like, ugh.
[00:41:22] Amanda: Yeah. That's
[00:41:23] Kelsey: awful.
[00:41:23] Amanda: Well, I know you have one more thing to say, but since you brought that up, you know, me and my quotes and this is the only quote that I actually wrote down from the book.
[00:41:31] Amanda: Okay. And I just liked it so much because it ties directly into what you're saying. So I don't remember what page this is from, but quote, after the games comes, the fallout from the games spreading out like ripples in a pond. When you toss in a rock concentric circles of damage, washing over the dead tributes families, their friends, their neighbors, to the end of the district, those I closest get hit the worst white liquor and depression, broken families and violence and suicide, we never really recover.
[00:41:58] Amanda: Just move on the best we can. [00:42:00] And it's like, yeah, the focus obviously is on these kids and what's happening in the arena, but I think taking the time to like look at the aftermath and how it's devastating and decimating these communities every single year and families just being torn apart and.
[00:42:14] Amanda: Relationships and like, it's not just Yeah. What's happening in the arena, it's all of the ripples that are flowing out from , that event
[00:42:22] Kelsey: Yeah.
[00:42:22] Amanda: That, you know, and she does obviously touch on it in the books. But , I'm glad she articulated it so clearly in that quote. And I think continuing to find ways to build on that again in future books is really important.
[00:42:36] Amanda: Like, it's not just about the tributes. Like obviously they're the ones in the arena, they're the ones like kinda in the spotlight. They're the ones getting killed. But it's so much more than that, you know, the fallout Yeah. Is so much more extensive than just those 24 or 48 kids.
[00:42:48] Amanda: So I really like that quote.
[00:42:50] Kelsey: It's impactful.
[00:42:55] Kelsey: Oh, I just, coming back to the squirrel incident, I'm just like, ugh. [00:43:00] Could you imagine
[00:43:01] Amanda: though, like.
[00:43:03] Kelsey: I mean, it's like a piranha Yeah. Yeah. eating they were piranhas Oh, but like
[00:43:08] Amanda: how, what a horrific way to die, you know? And I think the worst part is that , he was alive still Ampert was alive still, when Hamish is like trying to beat these squirrels off of him.
[00:43:19] Amanda: Right? Like, could you imagine, can you imagine being alive while you're just literally getting the, Ugh, I can't. Yeah. So bad. Like, what is for you, in your opinion? Goodness, I can't even get my words out. What has been like the most, not the saddest Yeah.
[00:43:36] Amanda: But like the most horrific death from the Hunger Games. , For me, I honestly think I might be amper. Yeah. Like, I'm trying to think of one I mean, there's obviously there's a lot of really bad ones. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause the other ones like, there's a lot, you know, people get electrocuted, they get stabbed, there are mutts in all of them, but like, yeah. Even with the what are they called? The the j Jacker what are they? Oh, Jabber walkers. [00:44:00] Jabber. That's the but the things that, you know what I'm talking about, like the wasp things that Oh, whatever. People who are, no people who are listening.
[00:44:12] Amanda: You know what we're talking about. Anyhow. But some of them, but some of them are less vicious than others. Like in the way that they kill. Yeah. Right. . I mean, I def
[00:44:21] Kelsey: I think it was the squirrel one.
[00:44:23] Kelsey: Yeah. Like that was the worst.
[00:44:25] Amanda: Yeah.
[00:44:26] Kelsey: It has
[00:44:26] Amanda: to be, because even like, yes, Wellie got decapitated, which is horrific, but like decapitation is a thing. You know, people have been decapitated time and time again. Right. But like that's such a unique. Yes. To die. Like just literally. Yes. Get eaten down to your bones.
[00:44:44] Amanda: Awful. Like squirrels, but forget squirrels. Like cute little squirrels. I love
[00:44:47] Kelsey: squirrels.
[00:44:49] Amanda: They're my favorite. Now. I'm not gonna feel like that if I hit one with my car. Oh my
[00:44:54] Kelsey: gosh. I,
[00:44:55] Amanda: no I'm literally, I have hit a squirrel with my car and it like wrecked me. I was like [00:45:00] so devastating. Oh my God.
[00:45:01] Kelsey: I always stop for little animals.
[00:45:04] Kelsey: Did you but you? Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. No, I wasn't saying you. Yeah. You did it. Those things happen sometimes, Amanda. It's okay. I'm not giving you a squirrel. Murderer out here plowing down for critters. It's unsafe. Both. I'm like, I stop, but it's unsafe. Yeah. But I can't help myself. Like if I see little bunny stop.
[00:45:22] Kelsey: Yeah. Squirrel, whatever. Yeah. If a bird is like, not realizing like I'm getting so close, I'm like, are you gonna move? What's happening? No, absolutely. The only other one that I can think of, there was also like snake deaths in the yeah,
[00:45:38] Amanda: but those, again, that's like a snake bite is like, not like, but yeah, I guess, was it just a bite?
[00:45:45] Kelsey: I can't remember. Did someone
[00:45:46] Amanda: get swallowed by a snake I don't think so.
[00:45:49] Kelsey: No, it wasn't. No. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think, yeah, it probably was. Ooh, the worst. I think it was the worst
[00:45:58] Amanda: one, which I guess makes sense. [00:46:00] She's gotta like, we should do a
[00:46:00] Kelsey: ranking of the
[00:46:01] Amanda: worst death.
[00:46:02] Amanda: We, should we get to that on our socials? We definitely could. That would be a fun video. Well, not a fun, but an interesting video to make. Oh God. But yeah, Amber's at the top of my list. Absolutely. Listeners, if you have a more horrific death that we are not remembering, you're welcome to like, let us know in the comments.
[00:46:14] Amanda: Please do. But I think that's, that topped it for me. I'm trying to think, is there anything else from the book that you wanted to make sure that we touched on? I, and I know like once we get to our reviews, we, that always brings up stuff like, oh, talk about this. But those were like the main things for me.
[00:46:28] Amanda: Obviously , if we're looking at big thematic things, like obviously when you look at, especially in our country right now the commentary that she's making about government and people in power and propaganda. And I think the recurring theme, one thing we haven't talked about is there's this, and it she says it several times in the book where it's like, there are more people in the districts than there are in the capitol, right?
[00:46:53] Amanda: Oh yes. Uhhuh. And how do you get that many people to just go along with something so horrific Yes. For so [00:47:00] long. And it's like, yeah, like why aren't they revolting and rebelling? And, but then you also look at our current state of things right? In our country, and there's so much. Going on. And things are escalating and it's like, and what are we doing?
[00:47:13] Amanda: Right? How many of us are just like, yeah, well it sucks, but this is the way things are. Let's just, you know, keep on keeping on and you know, maintaining the status quo. Yeah. So I thought that was a pretty powerful commentary as well.
[00:47:28] Kelsey: Yeah. Yeah. There's definitely, like, you have to have a certain amount of fear in order to continue that balance create a certain amount of fear. And I think yeah. In the popular field, whole thing, like what we're experiencing right now and what is like commented in the Hunger Games. Like, I think that is definitely something that is a through line. It's more brutal in the Hunger Games. Yeah. Where it's a direct, you know, killing.
[00:47:53] Kelsey: And like publicized and all those things. But yeah, it, I think that a lot of. [00:48:00] Backwards happenings in our government aren't always like broadcasted, right? Yeah. But like still happening and so I think that also is a part that plays in the current dynamics is that we don't always know Yeah.
[00:48:14] Kelsey: Everything that's happening. Yeah. Yeah. Like when people are being sent to other countries to be imprisoned and you're like, yeah. What even goes on there? Exactly.
[00:48:23] Amanda: You know? Yeah. And we're finding out after the fact, or maybe not even at all. Right. And I, I remember talking about this when everything was going on with, you know, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
[00:48:34] Amanda: Oh yeah. And the reason why I'm bringing it up is because we all were getting certain news and we were making assumptions about what was happening based on whatever we had access to. Right? Yeah. And it's the same thing here. People are often like, do your research and fact check things, et cetera, and it's like, yes, you should.
[00:48:50] Amanda: And. To a certain degree you can, but there's also like this kind of wall where you can go no further and it's like, yeah, this is all the information that is available to civilians [00:49:00] intentionally. And there a lot of, yeah, intentionally there are, like even if you're going to reputable, you know, news media outlets, et cetera.
[00:49:06] Amanda: And so at some point, you know, there's, there are things that are happening behind the scenes and like under the table and behind closed doors that we don't know and can't address and can't work against. So, yeah. I think, yeah, this book is very timely in that sense as well. Totally.
[00:49:26] Amanda: It's very, it's a very obvious thing. Like she's certainly not hiding it. Yeah. Oh no. Yeah.
[00:49:32] Kelsey: And it's, you know,
[00:49:33] Amanda: obviously in all of her books too, but, yeah. Let's, yeah, because I, again, I think there's gonna be things that come up in the review, so let's get to those. But oh, yes. Just because we wanna follow protocol.
[00:49:43] Amanda: Kelsey, what's your final recommendation for this book?
[00:49:47] Kelsey: Oh, absolute. Lit it. Yes. Go read it.
[00:49:52] Amanda: Same like if you're a Hunger Games fan, you should read it. And if you've never read a Hunger Games book, I still think you should read it. 'cause I think you'd enjoy it. I mean, I still think you should [00:50:00] probably start from the beginning and proceed from there.
[00:50:02] Amanda: But it's also just like a well-written story. It's good pacing it's got great characters. It has really meaningful, like we were just talking about commentary and themes. And I actually just posted a video about this, but , ya Fiction is not just for young adults, y'all Oh no. Never too old to read a ya book.
[00:50:19] Amanda: There are so many ya books that I've just found to be so moving so well written really forced me to stop and reconsider. How I feel about things, how I think about things. So don't let the YA label stop you. Okay. They're great books. They're not just for children. Yeah. That's my little plug.
[00:50:37] Amanda: Okay. Let's keep doing what we did where we were ending on a good note, positive note. A positive note. So, I will go first with our one star reviews . So again, for new folks, if this is your very first littered or quitted episode, we are doing a little segment called literally the Best or literally the Worst, where Kelsey and I read five Star and one star reviews from Good Reads, just to [00:51:00] like expand our discussion a bit more and to give voice to other folks opinions outside of our own.
[00:51:05] Amanda: So I'll start with my first one Star review. This is from Anna Mic, I believe, and she says, I wish this book would've burned in all fire. That way I wouldn't have had to waste my time reading Nonsensical fan fiction that T Conn's vital parts of the OG Trilogy. I genuinely refuse to believe this was written by the same author that wrote the Hunger Games.
[00:51:30] Amanda: There's just absolutely no way I will die on the hill that this book should have followed Hamid as a victor after his games. Everything about his games was already explained in Cannon. We could have watched Hamid in the Capitol, meeting other victors that we haven't met before.
[00:51:44] Amanda: Seen him mentor kids year after year, just to watch them die, descend into alcoholism, go deeper into how victors were sold to people in the capitol, the start of the rebellion, et cetera. But no, instead we got a boring, bad retelling of his games to tell us things we already [00:52:00] know, but with some dumb cameos thrown in for fan service.
[00:52:03] Amanda: So people are blinded by nostalgia. And not realize how much of a dumpster fire this was. Anna really doesn't like this guy. Damn. Anna was not a fan. But I will say Anna, I do think that it would have been cool to follow him post games. That's not a bad idea. If not for the sake of just not having another Hunger Games book that is primarily about the hunger game.
[00:52:26] Amanda: Like like it would've been nice, like we were saying, to have a different narrative in this world. And I actually agree with her on that part. I just don't think this book is a dumpster fire though. Definitely not.
[00:52:38] Kelsey: Okay. That was intense uhhuh. Okay. My first five star review is from place. I honestly have no words to describe this masterpiece.
[00:52:49] Kelsey: It was honestly so good. Like it's been days since I finished. I'm still hungover from this book. I am honestly trying to move on, but [00:53:00] it's not happening. Sunrise captured me so easily and it literally enveloped my brain like I can't sleep because the events just replay in my mind. I just know the movie will traumatize me even more, but I feel like everybody will end up liking this book because this is the best, her best and certainly my favorite by her.
[00:53:22] Kelsey: But the people who have read the original trilogy and have met Hamit and the ones who love Hamit would absolutely devour this book because we desperately needed this story to fill some gaps left for his character in the original trilogy and the satisfaction that I got when I read and understood.
[00:53:43] Kelsey: This book, in one word, would be heartbreaking, but there is so much more that this story covers, and I love how so many of the events in this book reflect real world problems.
[00:53:56] Amanda: Yeah, so true. I was, as you were reading that, I was like, oh, that's right. [00:54:00] This is gonna be made into a movie and that means we're gonna have to watch Amber's death.
[00:54:03] Kelsey: God, I know. I was just think unless they change it, unless they change it to something more like pg, I doubt that they would, right. I don't think they would, but yeah, I know. Yeah. I was like, she was probably thinking about it and like, how would they do this? How could they do.
[00:54:20] Amanda: Oh, God, it's gonna be awful.
[00:54:21] Amanda: It's be so horrific. God. But I was so excited. We'll definitely have to go in November when it comes out. Oh my God. I know. Oh, I know. Yeah,
[00:54:26] Kelsey: everything's gonna
[00:54:27] Amanda: be, it's gonna, like, it's, I feel like it's gonna get like, game of Thrones vibes. It's gonna be so gorgeous. It's gonna be bad. It's gonna be bad.
[00:54:34] Amanda: Like silica with an ax in our skull. Like, good lord. Okay, so my next one is literally six words. Well, five words and like, exclamation. So this one star review is from Becks Stop with the poems already. Ugh. That's it.
[00:54:55] Kelsey: Okay. We get it a little. Oh,
[00:54:56] Amanda: we get it a little. It is, it was a bit much.
[00:54:58] Amanda: You're not wrong. [00:55:00] I'll also say really quickly, so less than 1% of the reviews were one star, right? So there were hardly any. Oh
[00:55:06] Kelsey: yeah.
[00:55:07] Amanda: But also they were all so long, like people not on the one star folks not only did not like this book, they disliked it so much that they all wrote like, these, like dissertations on it.
[00:55:18] Amanda: Essay like, yeah. They were so, so long. I had to trim so many of them. Okay. Oh my gosh.
[00:55:23] Kelsey: Okay. Well this one is also a really short one. Okay. And it's from a very well-known talker, a book talker.
Okay.
[00:55:32] Kelsey: Giannis. And she says, I genuinely cannot do this. I seriously cannot do this. Please, someone spare me from this pain.
[00:55:40] Kelsey: I know too much.
[00:55:45] Amanda: I mean, yeah. Again, I like didn't feel that all the way throughout. I just felt it at the end. I wasn't like, yeah. Oh my gosh, my heartstrings. I mean, I think when Hamid gets separated from his family at the beginning and has to say goodbye and like you see him going off, that was hard. And then, yeah the last half, but [00:56:00] I wasn't that destroyed in the middle.
[00:56:01] Amanda: Just disturbed. Okay. Yes. So not destroyed, but disturbed. Okay, so next one Star is from Zach Johnson. We went from Ballad to this Zero world building. The same exact characters from Book One, just thrown in by coincidence. Characters fully trust each other. No conflict, no distrust. Nothing happens, we don't expect.
[00:56:25] Amanda: Yeah, it's difficult to create intrigue and suspense when we know exactly what is going to happen, but it's like the author didn't try, also didn't really learn that much more about him that we didn't know from the other books yet. He's a completely different character. Unrecognizable again with zero knew about him.
[00:56:42] Amanda: Plenty of ret cons to the rest of the story. Fan service and flat characters throwing in, oh, my sweet Lenore Dove and the Raven constantly was such a lazy attempt at being emotionally engaging. Why not make it about him? Image's, life after the games. Half of the book was painstakingly slow pregame [00:57:00] where we didn't learn a thing, then flew through the games.
[00:57:02] Amanda: Then his actual character development is thrown together in a chapter or two. Unbelievably poorly written. There's no way Colin wrote this. It must have been an AI prompt to redo, catching fire, but write it for a three-year-old. Damn. Oh man. I, again, I, there's, there are some aspects that I agree with.
[00:57:23] Amanda: Again, I think again, the whole after the games would've been cool. I,
[00:57:28] Kelsey: but you have to understand where he got the trauma from in order to understand him. You
[00:57:35] Amanda: do. But I wonder if they did it at, if they did an after the game story, like I feel like she's a skilled enough writer that she could have worked in those moments of kind of flashbacks, right.
[00:57:44] Amanda: As he's engaging and mentoring. Like, oh, I remember when I, you know, did this or whatever. Yeah. So I think there's definitely a way that she could have done it that would've included those elements still. But. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, and it was a little bit slow in the beginning, but all the game, [00:58:00] all the books start out that way where they're, you know, getting sorted with who's going to the games and all that.
[00:58:04] Amanda: So it didn't bother me too much, but, all right. That was Zach.
[00:58:07] Kelsey: All right. Okay, this next one is from Halle editing this from Five Star to Infinity Star. Based on the fact that this book is all I have thought about for the last eight days. Oh my God, I just violently sobbed for the last two hours.
[00:58:24] Kelsey: Hey, Mitch, get behind me. Sweet Angel, I must protect you. This took so many tiny threads from the Hunger Gaines universe and wove them into the most magnetic and effed up story I've ever read. Every single aspect of this book is perfect. Suzanne Collins is a masterful author, and I feel honored to have grown up with her stories.
[00:58:49] Kelsey: She doesn't shy away from the darkness and the optimism that is humankind trying to survive in an unethical political climate. I was equally [00:59:00] enchanted and horrified by every page. This is my new comfort story because I am a masochist.
[00:59:06] Amanda: I was like, wait, what? So read this before bed every night. Oh my God.
[00:59:11] Amanda: I, it's so funny to read people's responses because like, mine are just never that exaggerate or rarely that exaggerated, you know, like I'm just maybe more even keeled. But it's very entertaining to hear other people. It
[00:59:24] Kelsey: is entertaining. What did
[00:59:25] Amanda: you say? Get behind me My sweet age? Yes. That was perfect.
[00:59:32] Amanda: Thank you. Having that made me laugh.
[00:59:34] Kelsey: Laugh.
[00:59:36] Amanda: Okay. Let's get through this last one. Star review. Oh, yes. This is from Laura Bvo. Okay. If I had picked up this book outside of this series, I would've ded and said it wasn't for me, or if I did force myself to finish it, which I did have to force myself to finish this.
[00:59:52] Amanda: I might have been more lenient than I am now. I still would not have liked it, but I just say it's too juvenile for me. But I [01:00:00] feel that a standard has been set for this series, and not only is this lesser quality, I think it's actively bad. It feels like Collins chose to write about. Chose to write about Hamish's Hunger Games because he was, at least based on my observations, the most requested character to get his own novel about his games.
[01:00:17] Amanda: And part of me feels after Ballad focusing on the villain, which resulted in some people not even picking up the book, Hamit was the safe option. The original trilogy was tight with metaphors that called back to each other, and it felt that there were just enough details to allow the world and character to feel real and no more as to keep the story focused.
[01:00:36] Amanda: This isn't an adventure series where , there's always a possibility for one more book. This is a dystopia, which is a genre that requires the book to have a message. So the first prequel was already risky, but in my opinion, fit in beautifully with the original trilogy, while also telling its own complete story that could stand on its own.
[01:00:53] Amanda: Whereas I feel Sunrise on the reaping feels like an incomplete story on its own, and then is made worse in the context of the series [01:01:00] being an unnecessary growth that only takes away from the beauty of the whole. I that was really wordy. I don't, yeah, I don't agree. I feel like it did add to the overall world.
[01:01:13] Amanda: I think we did get some important information about Heyman. A lot of important information. Yeah. Yeah I don't know, I don't completely agree with, I mean, I guess this is definitely a series that didn't necessarily need more books, you know, like I feel like the Hunger Games trilogy Sure.
[01:01:29] Amanda: Was very well done, very complete in and of itself. And and oftentimes with things like this, I'm like, what is the driving force? Is it because Suzanne Collins really wanted to revisit this world and loved writing about it? Or was it like, oh, I can make money? I hope it's not the latter.
[01:01:41] Amanda: 'cause I don't know her, but I don't know. I wanna think that she's not as driven by that but she also has to make a living, so. Sure. Yeah. So yeah, I don't know.
[01:01:50] Kelsey: I didn't know that people didn't pick up songbird because Oh yeah,
[01:01:54] Amanda: that surprised me.
[01:01:56] Kelsey: The villain?
[01:01:57] Amanda: Yeah. Huh. I didn't, I hadn't heard that. I don't know where she got that, [01:02:00] but.
[01:02:01] Kelsey: Interesting. Okay. Well, thank you. My last review is from Kevin, I reader. It starts out with a quote. I love you like All fire.
[01:02:11] Kelsey: This book broke me my absolute favorite Hunger Games book. I never thought Catching Fire could be outranked, but it has. I loved every single moment of this book. I cried so many times the Easter Eggs and Familiar Faces.
[01:02:24] Kelsey: I thought since we already knew the outcome of Hamish's games, it would affect the reading experience. But getting to witness the journey in first person with Hamit made it so heartbreaking. Seeing how he becomes the drunken hamit we first see in the Hunger Games, it was truly devastating. I also love the political commentary in this book from Suzanne Collins.
[01:02:47] Kelsey: So important in today's world, how everything can be orchestrated to make you believe something that isn't the truth.
[01:02:54] Amanda: Dun. I mean, I wonder if that is also one of the reasons why she wrote this book. She's like, oh, like this actually ties in perfectly to what's [01:03:00] happening in our society. So
[01:03:02] Kelsey: could be, yeah.
[01:03:03] Kelsey: Might
[01:03:03] Amanda: as well, right. But yeah. Ugh. Such a good book. Definitely read it. Yeah. There's a reason why less than 1% of the reviews are one star. Yeah. And how, what is
[01:03:14] Kelsey: the count for it? The rating? Like in, in good reads? Like in total, how many people have reviewed this book? No, what's it
[01:03:22] Amanda: Center on the, I know, I'm looking it up too.
[01:03:26] Amanda: So, let's see. There are 98,000 reviews in total and 446,000 ratings. Oh my gosh. But it has a 4.6 rating that has a 4.6. Yeah.
[01:03:40] Kelsey: Yeah. Oh my gosh. But how many of them are one star reviews? 553. That is wild. It's, you said less than 10%, right?
[01:03:48] Amanda: Less than 1%.
[01:03:50] Kelsey: Oh yeah. Sorry. That's what I meant. Yeah, because there's 300 and
[01:03:52] Amanda: there's 306,485 star reviews.
[01:03:56] Amanda: Yeah. And then like. Then like [01:04:00] 111,004 star reviews. So yeah. So insane. Yeah. So clearly this is a well loved book and yeah. And again, I do think part of it is like, yeah, she's very much tapping into our nostalgia for this series. Yeah. And getting folks who have could agree with that. Yeah. Read this, the originals and love it and love the movie.
[01:04:14] Amanda: But there's nothing wrong with that, you know? I don't think there's anything wrong though. No, I'm okay with that. Okay. Well, Kelsey, do you wanna go over socials one more time? Let's do
[01:04:23] Kelsey: it.
[01:04:23] Amanda: So,
[01:04:24] Kelsey: Please come find us on Instagram or TikTok on Instagram. You'll find us at Lit Vibes only podcasts.
[01:04:32] Kelsey: And on TikTok, it's Lit Vibes Only podcast. And you can also see our full length episodes on YouTube. At Lit Vibes only podcast. We forget to mention that sometimes. But if you have, a moment, you love this episode, you really enjoyed listening to us chat about books, go rate and review us.
[01:04:50] Kelsey: In Spotify or Apple so that other people can see our podcast and get to enjoy it. Just enjoy.
[01:04:57] Amanda: Yes, exactly. And as always, if [01:05:00] you have thoughts about our comments on this book, our feedback, the reviews that we read, if you've read it and loved it, read it and hate it.
[01:05:05] Amanda: We want to know all the things. So yes, comment on our socials, comment on this episode on Spotify. We really, truly love chatting with you guys. It's so much fun. I have such a blast chatting with folks on TikTok. Yes. As is Kelsey. So come chat with us. We exist outside of this podcast. Yeah. In real time and we love getting to know you all.
[01:05:25] Amanda: So thank you guys so much for tuning in and we'll see you next Monday. See ya. Bye.