Valent’s Reviews > Sunrise on the Reaping > Status Update

"And then she's gone to wherever people go when they die. She hasn't begged or pleaded; she retained her fury and defiance. Although for me, a person's desperation at the end is not a measure of their life, I know it mattered to her. Maysilee leaves the world the way she wanted, wounded but not bowed. I think about cleaning her up, but this is her final poster, and I won't tidy it up to make it easier for them".

"The full force of my failure hits me. Who do I think I am? Why did I think I could change anything? That I could take on the Capitol, with all its might, and bring the Hunger Games to a standstill? Me, a 16-year-old kid from the trashiest district in Panem with little schooling and no outstanding skills. I've got nothing but a big mouth and an inflated sense of my own self-importance. All foam, no beer, that's me".

"Hoping for something better could be dangerous; it could blind me to the reality of my situation. I remember how Mamaw always said, 'Where there's life, there's hope'. But from where I'm sitting, hope seems a lot like white liquor. It can fool you in the short run, but like as not, you'll end up paying for it twice".

"But if he's not Snow's lackey, and he knows about the plot, and he's trying to help us, what is he after? His words echo back. 'You should know that, despite appearances, a desire for freedom is not limited to the districts.' Was he suggesting that he, with all his wealth and privilege and power, lacks freedom? Freedom to do what? Maybe to not have to live in terror of Snow poisoning his oysters, for one thing".

"She'd been crying then, too. Not at anything I did, but because they'd hung a men that morning and made the rest of us watch. But there we were, high in the hills, with not one but two rainbows arching across the sky. Sometimes she cries because things are so beautiful and we keep messing them up. Because the world doesn't have to be so terrifying. That's on people, not the world".

"She once told me about being arrested by the Peacekeepers back home, how frightened she was at first. Then she remembered she'd read that sometimes the only thing you can control is your attitude to a situation. 'Like I could decide whether I was scared or not, no matter what happened. I mean, I was still scared, but it helped having that to chew on".

"Something steels inside me, and I think, you are on a high horse, mister. And someday someone will knock you off it straight into your grave. I dismount the chariot and lay Louella down, taking a step back so Snow can't pretend he doesn't see her broken little bird body. Then I gesture to him and begin to applaud, giving credit where credit is due".

"I'm entirely the Capitol's plaything. They will use me for their entertainment and then kill me, and the truth will have no say in it. Plutarch acts friendly, but his indulgences are just a method to manage me, because happy playthings are easier to handle than raging ones".

"As the train passes, she tilts her head back amd wails her loss and rage into the wind. And even though it guts me, even though I smash my fists into the glass until they bruise, I'm grateful for her final gift. That she's denied Plutarch the chance to broadcast our farewell. The moment our hearts shatterd? It belongs to us".

"–Haymitch?– Drusilla repeats, looking straight at me.
My face fills the screen over the stage. My feet begin to move. I see them cut to Lenore Dove, who has a hand pressed against her mouth. She isn't crying, so Plutarch won't get his tearful good-bye. Not from her and not from me. They will not use our tears for their entertainment".