Limetown

 Limetown by Cote Smith, Zack Akers, and Skip Bronkie, 290 pages.

In this prequel to the popular podcast, a teenage Lia Haddock becomes obsessed with finding the truth about Limetown, and the 300 people who disappeared from it. Meanwhile, many years earlier, her Uncle Emile gets pulled deeper into the web of the shadowy scientists who are integral to the mystery.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a prime example of an unnecessary prequel. Many of the events here either weaken or completely contradict the events of the original podcast. It also feels like it is hardly the genre, lacking any real tension. It works a little better as a standalone book, but the fact that it's a prequel means that the ending isn't particularly satisfying. I would probably give this one a skip, definitely check out the Limetown podcast though, which does still hold up. 

Sunrise on the Reaping

 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, 387 pages.

Haymitch Abernathy makes the most of a hard life: doing chores for is Ma, spending time with his girl, and hoping not to make enough trouble to be noticed by the peacekeepers. Then he makes himself too visible and ends up in the 50th Hunger Games, sentenced to fight to the death with 49 other kids. Haymitch is determined not to let them turn him into their propaganda, but some things are so much bigger than him.

This was a very solid edition to the Hunger Games series, and I liked it much better than the last prequel. It was very thematically consistent, and felt sharp and cutting. Collins was considering very literally the political principles of David Hume, in a way that still made a compelling novel. This book did, however, suffer from a problem common in prequels of popular series. It felt like it was filled with as many characters from the original books as possible, which often creates connections that strain believability to believe weren't mentioned in the original source material. That being said, none of these cameos cause any problems at all within the novel itself, and I almost like this book more in isolation than as part of a series. I would definitely recommend this novel for fans of the original series, but also for anyone who's looking for some less than subtle criticism of tyrannical government. 

Sheine Lende

 Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger, 391 pages.

Shane, like many of the women in her family before her, has the power to rouse ghosts from the world below. She and her mother use these powers, including the tracking power of their ghost dog, to find missing people (whether they can pay or not). Which is the right thing, but also hard, since money has been tight since they lost their home, community, and several family members in a flood many years ago. Things get even harder when her mother goes missing on a search and rescue mission for two siblings, and Shane has to go further than she ever thought possible to get her back.

This prequel to Elatsoe really works as a prequel in a way that many don't. The story didn't undercut anything from that book, while also not being rendered less meaningful because we know how Shane eventually ends up. Rather it added a lot of depth and history to a character we only see in passing, letting her own her story in the same way the Ellie does in her book. That being said, this book didn't work for me quite as well as Elatsoe. I found the pacing to be a little slow and clunky, and I had a hard time really getting into this book. It's still worth reading for fans of Darcie Little Badger, but I would recommend her other books first if you're looking for modern fantasy mixed with Lipan Apache mythology.