Review: It's Not A Game by FyreBirdRises
Almost 25 years after the final Hunger Games, what do people remember? Katniss discovers the children of District 12 playing something she can't see as a game.
It's Not A Game is told from Delly's point of view (though it took a little bit of reading to figure out just who was the narrator of this one-shot) about life 25 years after the Rebellion. Families have moved into Victor's Village (and Haymitch has moved out), including those who were not old enough to remember the last Games or those involved other than what they were taught in school. The children of VV decide to play "Hunger Games," which sends Katniss into a tailspin and frightens some of the younger parents.
INaG echoed some of Katniss' last few lines in the book about her children not knowing they play on a grave yard but at some point, they (Katniss and Peeta) will tell them (the children). In this story, it's Delly who initiates the conversation with the parents who don't know the full history of the Games, with Katniss and Peeta filling in some of the details. The whole storyline reminded me of the scene from The Hunger Games movie when Haymitch watches the Capitol children playing, showing how the more removed one is from the horrors of a situation, the less they realize the power of their "pretend play.
I also really enjoyed the addition of Rory into the story because it definitely fit. The two shared a relationship with Prim and the woods that they could use to help one another. He fit really well even in his small role and I appreciated that extra bit.
There were two major complaints with INaG. The first, similar to Damage Assessment, is the way the dialogue was broken up into too many paragraphs, sometimes causing some confusion about who was doing the talking at any given point. The second problem is the over-use of dialogue as exposition (Delly talks way too much). The readers of this fic are already aware of what happened and the complete rehashing from Delly was unneeded. I'll admit I found myself skimming over the explanation which is never a good sign.
Fyrebird has some great potential! I've thoroughly enjoyed reading these three drabbles/one-shots and I can tell she has great ideas. I think with a bit more practice and some tweaks, she'll be a great addition to the fandom.
