#published 2025

Sad to say this is my least favorite Hunger Games book. That's hardly terrible, since I fucking love 3/4 of the other books and Suzanne Collins is a great author, but my hopes were so high that I was a little disappointed.

Part of what I love about the original Hunger Games trilogy is how subtle and layered it was, especially for YA. The messages and themes are clear, but it feels like you notice something new each time you read. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes still had that to a lesser degree, but Sunrise on the Reaping isn't subtle at all, and I think it's worse for it.

Unfortunately, I absolutely think this was a purposeful choice, and I understand it. This book was clearly a response to current events in the United States, including current literacy rates. People have been missing the message of the Hunger Games books for years - just look at how a lot of teens (and adults, but Collins is mostly speaking to teens so that's who we'll focus on) responded to Snow's character in Songbirds and Snakes. Probably at least half of the Everlark edits on TikTok are set to billionaire Taylor Swift's songs. When people ask for more Hunger Games media, they literally want to see more hunger games. You know, the horrific spectacle that the capitol gets excited to watch every year.

So yeah, this book is clearly less subtle as a response, and is also clearly a response to current events. I mean, Collins literally mentions the danger of deepfakes. But more than that, in an era of fake news, politicians who blatantly and obviously lie only for their constituents to blindly believe them, increasing corporate greed, and the majority of Americans being poorer than ever, this book is about the dangers of propaganda, the tools a state uses to suppress people, and the importance of continuing to resist over and over again, even if you don't immediately see results. You have to keep trying, you have to keep resisting. One day you will succeed, but that day will never come if you don't keep fighting for it.

I loved all of the new characters, and I wish we got to see more of them instead of having to retread ground. That retreading and seeing characters we've seen before made me feel less connected to this story - I felt most engaged when spending time with new characters and learning more about District 12. Maysilee my beloved. She would have loved that Katniss got her pin. I'm worried the inevitable movie won't do her justice - look what they did to Lucy, Coriolanus, Tigris, and Sejanus. Snow is so weird about District 12 that it's kind of hilarious. Like get over it dude. Literally started sobbing at the epilogue when Katniss brought Haymitch the goose eggs and never recovered. Ugh. 

Togetha (Pritty 2), by Keith F Miller Jr

Perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Jason Reynolds, this highly anticipated sequel to Lambda Literary Award finalist Pritty finds Jay and Leroy togetha again as they fight to save not only their home but themselves from the powerful Bainbridge family's treacherous endgame to retake Savannah for themselves, no matter the cost.

After finally reuniting, Jay and Leroy have never been in more danger. Caught in the crosshairs of the affluent Bainbridge family, who they’ve learned is determined to reshape Savannah in their own image, the duo has only just survived a series of near-death experiences before reaching the safety of the Black Diamonds. But the BDs’ ability to protect the Black neighborhoods of their city is slipping…

Missing the key piece of evidence that could have broken the Bainbridges’ hold over Savannah, everyone is scrambling for options.

But when one of their own is kidnapped, Jay and Leroy realize they can’t rely on anyone but themselves to save them. Recruiting old friends, former enemies, and their most risky ally, Jay’s once-upon-a-time crush, Will, they set out to do the impossible: find the evidence they lost in order to finally expose the Bainbridges’ corruption to the world, by any means necessary.

But even as their plans bring them closer to revealing the Bainbridges’ treacherous endgame, Jay and Leroy’s own secrets from each other threaten to pull their love apart, just as old feelings between Jay and Will begin to blossom again. And as the battle for a brighter future boils over into the streets, to save their homes—and everyone they love—Jay, Leroy, and Will must decide: When the cost of justice might be each of their happiness, will they be able to make the sacrifice togetha?

An Honored Vow (The Halfling Saga 4), by Melissa Blair

Queer book published 2025

This thrilling romantasy about king's Blade, Keera, and her epic quest to avenge her lover, save her people, and bring down a tyrant king is the final installment of Melissa Blair's highly acclaimed series. The Halfling Saga showcases BIPOC and queer representation, love, passion, betrayal, magic, and great battles of the sword and the soul.

“Your land is not the one you take, it is the one you die for.”

Still reeling over her discovery of a staggering secret about her closest ally, Keera has no time to rest. She and her fellow rebels plan a desperate rescue mission after King Damien takes one of their own hostage.

Opening the kingdom’s magical seals has transformed Keera in ways even the wisest Fae elders could not have anticipated. With the kingdom’s Halfling population suddenly posing a risk to the crown, the land is plunged into violence as the king begins a new blood purge.

Keera and her allies gather an army to meet Damien’s forces in a final confrontation of epic, and tragic, proportions. The epic final installment in the Halfling Saga will thrill fans of Melissa Blair’s lush, action-packed, romantasy series.

Fake It ‘til You Mate It by Sarah Spade

Baffled that this is a series, but it is book one of Murder In Moonburrow. I basically got dared to read this one, and I always commit to the bit. Have not committed to the bit hard enough to read the others in this series.

I went in with low expectations and it did meet all of my expectations. Book was so bad it was … well, not good, but bad enough to be funny. It was like if someone shook AO3 and collected some fanfiction tropes and just stuck them together.

The predator and prey shifter dynamic was kind of off putting to read, in that “predatory gaze” is an uncomfortable phrase even if in context it wasn’t meant to be a big ick. The characters had no development and motivations that didn’t make sense. The characters and author seemingly forgot there was a murder mystery happening, so it was solved by a side character off page. Plot points were mentioned once then never brought up again. The sexual tension was neither tense nor sexual. It was mostly just awkward. And the actual sex was bland.

Will not be reading the next book, but did have fun laughing at this one.

Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson

Secret project number 5. Directly related to the short story from Arcanum, Sixth of the Dusk, which is incorporated into this book via flashbacks. This is EASILY my favorite secret project so far, and one of my favorite Cosmere novels.

I enjoyed the character of Dusk from the short story, but he was wonderfully fleshed out in this book, as was Vathi. They’re such a great duo. And Dusk is up there in my list of favorite Cosmere protagonists.

Parts of the book follow Dusk, and the rest follows a new character, Starling and her crew sailing the seas of Shadesmar. So much Cosmere lore gets dropped in the Starling sections, but it doesn’t take away from how this is overall just a very satisfying story.

The way the two main characters, who are very different people, parallel each other was so well done. I appreciated the themes of anti-colonialism and anti-fascism (and kudos to Sanderson for actually using the word fascism and not dancing around the topic), but also of the positives and negatives of progress, and how individuals navigate societal changes to find new purpose.

Overall, loved this book and highly recommend.

Anji Kills A King by Evan Leikam

I took two attempts to write this up because I kept going back and forth between “it was ok” and “a lot of it was annoying but not quite annoying enough to stop reading.” And I might only be thinking it was ok because the last 1/3 of the book was an improvement on the first 2/3.

The main plot of the book can be summarized as the world’s most uncomfortable road trip. The main protagonist is in chains getting dragged around by a legendary bounty hunter, The Hawk, who is part of a group of bounty hunters each with animal names. When they meet, the Hawk appears to be working separate from the rest of this legendary bounty hunting gang, and her motives are a mystery.

The positives: I liked the narration. It was a bit sparse at times, but the narrative voice was such a delicate touch you could almost forget it existed. The bones of this world are interesting, with its class/social conflict. It hints at a complicated political situation where the lines of power are indirect and obscured, rebellion is looming, and there’s a (magical?) drug epidemic. There’s a dead king from page one, an extremely ominous religious order, and a magic system I would love to see explored. If this is first in a series, I hope book two continues with those ideas and expands on them. The Hawk was decently compelling.

The negatives: The main character, Anji, was consistent; however, I found her generally annoying and frustrating. She’s a character that I can understand appealing to another reader, but did not land for me personally. Maybe if I was younger Anji would be easier to read, but at my age I tend to prefer more adult protagonists. Or, at least if there is a young, immature main character, they should feel like they’ve matured in some way by the end of the book.

Anji feels as if her internal journey was about receiving new information, and not necessarily about applying that information or learning anything about herself. This was not a story of growth or self discovery. This lends to the main problem I had with the book - when the main conflict is external physical events happening to the lead character, then that character needs to carry the story. They need to be someone who can make a reader invested in that character’s outcome. The main questions posed were external to Anji (Will Anji escape the bounty hunter? Will Anji live?), and I found myself spending the book not caring what if the answer to either question was yes or no, because I was not emotionally invested in Anji at all. It wasn’t until the last 1/3 of the book - when characters and ideas from outside of the bubble of Anji and The Hawk were introduced - that it felt like the book actually started to pull together. The points of conflict outside of the main characters (political unrest, themes of rebellion, magic drugs, very grim philosophical outlooks) was where the story was most interesting.