About the Book

Title: Sunrise on the Reaping

Author: Suzanne Collins

Series: The Hunger Games #0.5

Genre: YA Dystopian

Pages: 387

Edition Read: Hardcover

Dates Read: May 1-3, 2025

Blurb: 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.

Review

To say that I was looking forward to this book is a HUGE understatement. You all know I’m a huge Hunger Games fan and Haymitch is one of my favorite characters. Getting his story? Yes please!

At the same time, I was also a bit worried, especially once I started reading. We’ve had another prequel in this series, with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which I enjoyed but wasn’t over the moon about. Plus it was very far removed from the original series, taking place 65 years in the past. The only connection really was President Snow – 18 years old in the prequel versus 83(ish) years old in the originals. I wasn’t expecting anything about him to be the same.

To be fair, I wasn’t expecting Haymitch to be exactly the same either, but there is more of a connection with him to the original story. He’s more present in it, for starters. He has more connections with original characters, from being best friends with Katniss’s dad to being involved with Plutarch’s schemes. We also already had some details of what his Games looked like from when Katniss and Peeta watched it in Catching Fire. Basically, with all these little connections, I was worried that something wouldn’t match up, that something would feel off.

That was silly of me.

Suzanne Collins is a very good writer and also reminded me of something – the Capitol lies. So while there are things that absolutely happened to Haymitch, it may not be exactly what Katniss and Peeta saw. The Games are marketed as being a live spectacle, but everything is HEAVILY edited, from the reapings to the events in the arena. Also, by the original series, Haymitch isn’t always the most reliable narrator either, due to his dependence on alcohol and his decades of repressed trauma. We already knew that his wasn’t a happy story – he mentioned that the Games made him lose everything, from his family to the love of his life. Seeing how everything played out was heartbreaking, but also fully explained how he became the Haymitch we know and love.

The only thing I don’t quite know how to reconcile is his relationship with Plutarch. Not to get into spoilers, but let’s just say that Plutarch has always had several schemes up his sleeves and, after dealing with him the first time, I still don’t quite know how or why Haymitch would want to do it again in Mockingjay. I would love to see short stories or novellas from Haymitch’s point of view showing how that agreement came to be, given their history.

This was a great book. It made me want to re-read the series yet again (and I really don’t have time ahhh!) just to see if things change given what I know now. If you are a Hunger Games fan, don’t miss this one.

GoodReads rating: 5 stars

Categories: Books I've Read

Tags: book reviews, books, sunrise on the reaping, suzanne collins, the hunger games