sunrise on the reaping by suzanne collins

 Readable, but not meaningfully different, I think, from the original Hunger Games book.

the man who fell to earth by walter tevis

 Really good writing and character work, I think it could even have been a little longer. And it's got more going on than just the cold war allegories that you might expect from the premise and the era.

equal rites by terry pratchett

 It starts well, and I will say it is observant, but by the second half becomes a drag, spending way too long on uninteresting things and not having a tight plot. It's barely a novel about a magic "system" and not at all about wizard school or coming-of-age. Plus, the "British humour" style of writing does get monotonous.