Welcome to Litsy!

I thought I could be detached while reading this and wouldn‘t be surprised by anything. If you‘ve read or watched The Hunger Games, you know Haymitch. What could possibly shock a reader?

But oof was I misinformed. The last few pages, Collins pulled out the PAIN, and I was left a sobbing mess. The Hunger Games remains unsurpassed and Collins continues to add great stories to the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.25/5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

“Ghosts don't haunt people--their memories do.”

#dystopian #sciencefiction #youngadult

“Never Let Me Go,” a special song of Kathy‘s, also refers to the fleeting nature of our memories. They go, too. When those fade, we are left with art or objects like old cassette tapes to remind us that we are not clones, that we have thoughtful souls deserving love and a search for life‘s full offerings.

A rerelease of an earlier Crouch book, this propulsive thriller/horror finds some people in the US suddenly gripped with murderous rage and going on killing sprees. Jack and his family are unaffected and therefore targets, running across the country to try to stay alive. Multiple things in this book are wildly preposterous, but it‘s good entertainment.

Big-hearted bass guitarist Rainy lives with his book-loving wife Lark in a small community on the banks of Lake Superior, where it's still just about possible to live in relative happiness despite the deterioration of the world--until it isn't. A heartbreaking, hopeful story, as big-hearted as Rainy himself, even in the face of arbitrary cruelty and rampant injustice.

4.25/5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.”

#youndadult #dystopian #sciencefiction

A much needed book that takes us back to a fan favorite character and allows us to get a better understanding of why he is the way he is. This also takes a deeper looks at how fragile the system of the hungers games is and how hard the capital need to work to keep it in place for so long.

This book is unique because I didn't cry while reading it, but I started crying later when I was thinking about it. It's a beautifully done magical realism about hard choices made in circumstances you didn't ask for. You're forced to think about what matters and who your village is. I've also never read such a vivid post-apocalyptic world.

Elements felt heavy-handed (even for YA) in an attempt to tie up so much that arguably didn‘t need any more tying. That being said, the gruesome thought behind this series doesn‘t get easier to stomach with time. Poor Haymitch.

Off to rewatch the film series to see the implied connections. 🥹