Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Heartbreak and the Perils of Propaganda

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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What can I say about Sunrise on the Reaping that hasn’t already been said more eloquently by the other reviewers of Cannonball Read? I’ll start by quoting a joke I’ve heard repeated on TikTok: Suzanne Collins saw everyone thirsting over Coriolanus Snow after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie came out, and decided to remind us all what a monster he truly is. If she had to do that by torturing our favorite grizzled old alcoholic mentor and breaking all our hearts in the […]

A Week for Pop Culture Exploration of Fascist Themes

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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My library reservation for Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping, the lastest book in her Hunger Games collection, finally came in two days after I finished watching the remarkable second season of Andor. I have really enjoyed and thought about Collins’ novels over the years, so I knew what I was getting into, but that was a weighty few days of pop culture consumption. Sunrise on the Reaping takes the reader back to the 50th Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell we first heard about in […]

The Haymitch behind the Capitol’s narrative

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

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Well fuck. That was so much more devastating than I expected. It’s been forever since I read the original trilogy but I rewatched the movies recently – which means I likely missed some details that didn’t quite make it into the movies (especially around Maysilee’s family and Merrilee). At least, I could truly appreciate appearances of the younger versions of some of the characters from Catching Fire who appeared as mentors (and the amount of tragic backstory we learned about some of them was wrecking). […]

I read Snow’s story to get to Haymitch

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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This is one of those books I have had almost since it was released and yet just kept skipping over. Because of course I want more of The Hunger Games but also, fuck Snow. However, with the new novel focused on Haymitch, that I definitely want to read, I ended up finally deciding to read it – even if I considered skipping it all together.

It’s a system designed to get rid of the best of us.

Rare and sweet as cherry wine by perchancetosleep

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“I can’t do this without him,” Ronan admits, his voice as rough and as hoarse as rusted nails. “I can’t lose him, too.” They don’t speak after that. Ronan breathes until it doesn’t hurt his lungs anymore, until he can’t feel new wetness sliding down his face, pooling underneath his chin. The ground is as cold and hard as ever. It will still be there when Ronan returns. And Adam will still be alive. If Ronan gives up hope, there’s no one left. Adam has […]

Stop trying to make known villains into troubled protagonists

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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I don’t know why I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes other than the fact I am a completionist and it is officially part of The Hunger Games trilogy because it is a pet peeve of mine when authors play revisionist history within their canon. Our protagonist is Coriolanus Snow, a Capital resident who is finishing up high school and tapped to mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games. On the line as a mentor is the opportunity to attend the University on a scholarship and while […]



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