Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games, 0.5
By Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: March 18, 2025
Genre: YA Dystopia
Rating:
When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
My thoughts…
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. Haymitch’s story is what President’s Snow’s story should have been. Where The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes felt more like the author trying to ride the coattails of the Hunger Games success, Sunrise on the Reaping is book that was actually well thought out and planned. Finally giving the readers a look into how the older generations handled the hunger games. This also kind of shows you just how long President Snow has been interfering in the games whenever he feels slighted by a sacrifice, er… I mean contestant.
I don’t want to go into too many details, but faces from the trilogy make an appearance in this story in various ways as Haymitch is thrown into the chaos of the hunger games. The story line follows a similar arc that Katniss’ story does with being reaped, being groomed, meeting the game makers, schmoozing for sponsors, surviving the games, and ultimately the life after the games. We are witness to Haymitch making connections and allies, having those be torn away from him, and moments where you’d swear it was the end for him, even though you know he lives. Seeing his story play out is a really heartbreaking tale, and in all honesty, I would have ended up as a drunk as well if I were in his shoes.
This was a solid read that stands on its own. It was a heartbreaking read, but it was one that I think a lot of us readers wanted. We wanted to know how Haymitch survived the games. We wanted to know what caused him to downward spiral. Was it memories of his time in the games and what he had done in order to survive, or was it just mentoring dying kid after dying kid? I always wanted to know his story, because as Katniss’ story progressed, he became more alert and invested in life. So you just knew that there was something that tore him down to a shell of a person with nothing left to live for. I’m glad that we finally got his story.
