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This past week, I dove once more into the Hunger Games world with Sunrise on the Reaping, revisiting the disturbing Capitol and the familiar, coal-coated District 12. I have now encountered the series during three very different stages of my life: I first fell head over heels into Collins’s intriguing, brutal world in middle school, when I read the original three novels, quickly becoming obsessed with the characters and fascinating plot; I stepped back into Panem in high school as I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, voraciously devouring the new work which fulfilled a need within me that I didn’t even know was there; and, most recently (and perhaps for the final time), I met beloved characters and learned more about how they are each connected during my sophomore year of college. It has been incredibly exciting to reconnect with a series that I loved in middle school during varying life stages, especially as it has given me the opportunity to better appreciate Collins’s work and message and to explore new layers of existing characters. This review will contain SPOILERS, so if you have not yet read Sunrise on the Reaping, I recommend saving this article for later.
A Brief Summary
Just to provide a brief recap, Sunrise on the Reaping focuses on Haymitch Abernathy, the sole surviving District 12 champion of the Hunger Games (Lucy Gray from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes being the only other District 12 victor, who we learn definitively to be dead at the end of Sunrise) and, as a result, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark’s mentor in the original trilogy. Collins’s new installment takes readers through Haymitch’s Games, which happen to be the second Quarter Quell, for which the Capitol unfailingly devises new brutal twists, resulting in double the normal number of tributes being reaped (so, instead of 24 tributes, there are 48). Readers witness Haymitch’s rigged reaping, the chaos of District 12’s prep team, a dangerously seductive and mutt-filled arena, covert plots to destroy the arena and prevent the sun from rising on another reaping, and a brutal, devastating (yet, if I’m being honest, not surprising) ending.
Thoughts on the plot
I immensely enjoyed reading this book, as I unfailingly leap at any opportunity to revisit the world of Hunger Games. As always, it is well crafted, the characters are interesting and display intriguing emotional depth, the action proceeds at a perfect pace, and there are unexpected twists. I believe that, with both prequels, Collins does a fantastic job of identifying characters and moments within Games history that are worth exploring and carefully unfolding. Neither The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes nor Sunrise on the Reaping feel unnecessary: both comfortably assume their places within the beloved series, adding depth to the fantasy world and figures by thoughtfully weaving connections and developing explanations to questions left by the original novels.
The only criticism I have is that it feels too similar to the original books, which was a concern I had from the moment I heard that the novel would focus on Haymitch’s Games. While I was interested in seeing how Collins would present the Games during a new moment in time, as she had given us snapshots from their very beginning in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and their maturity in Hunger Games and Catching Fire, I harbored doubts as to how she would make a developed Games stand out from the trilogy, and as it turns out, my doubts were valid. The main characters and overall plot pattern are very close: a fatherless kid from District 12 who shoulders the weight of providing for his/her family and has a town sweetheart is, in some unconventional way, reaped for the Hunger Games; during training, the respective focal figure causes trouble; the teenager attempts to break the arena during the Games (and in Catching Fire is successful); and the character suffers from never escaping the Games and the Capitol’s grasp. That is why I enjoyed The Ballad so much: it brings to life the Games in their crude infancy, creatively explains Snow’s rise to power and relationship to the Games, and expertly ties to the original novels, exploring a wholly unseen corner of the Panem world and history.
Now don’t get me wrong, while Sunrise feels extremely similar at times, it still carries its own unique touches and flavor. Seeing how District 12 is dealt with during the 50th anniversary was, as I was hoping, interesting, as the tributes lack a personal mentor and the dazzling costumes that Katniss sports in Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Additionally, I enjoyed the personalities that Collins introduces, including Maysilee, Wyatt, Louella, Ampert, and the younger Plutarch Heavensbee, Beetee, Wiress, Mags, and, of course, Haymitch and the friendships that develop between them (Maysilee and Haymitch’s “sibling” relationship, in particular, was heartwarming).
Finally, to just rant about some specific parts: I do not understand why Haymitch didn’t think that his actions would lead to his loved ones’ slaughter. I know that he thought Snow would leave them alone if he died, but I seriously don’t think that the ruthless, tyrannical president would have spared them even if Haymitch had been killed in the arena given what the latter attempted to accomplish. I also do not get why Lenore Dove trusted the red gumdrops; I know that they had the candy store logo on them, but I can’t help but wonder who gave them to her, as she had been locked up for the entirety of Haymitch’s Games, and why she just unthinkingly thought they were safe. Maybe I only feel that way because her death was guaranteed, but I still feel like that whole situation was a bit odd. Lastly, I find it slightly unusual that Collins set Haymitch up as a character who passionately fought to end the Games, just because in the trilogy he shows no interest in even trying to help Katniss and Peeta survive, so there is some character dissonance there, even though I can understand that some of his fire was extinguished by hopelessness and defeat.
Revelations and COnnections
I also cannot get enough of the way Collins deftly produces mind-blowing revelations and connections in these prequels. In this novel, specifically, I enjoyed learning that Haymitch calls Katniss “sweetheart” because she reminds him of his former ally (Louella McCoy), drinks copiously to forget Lenore Dove, as the speaker in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” does, and was friends with Katniss’s father, who by the trilogy had died in a mining incident. And, of course, I was excited to learn that the Mockingjay pin that Tam Amber creates for Maysilee Donner is the one that finds its way to Katniss in the original books. I also enjoyed Collins’s return to the Covey; I appreciated the introduction of another free-spirited, nature-loving character and the confirmation of the suspicions regarding Lucy Gray’s ending.
Backstories
I also immensely enjoyed the return of many great characters in this novel, including Beetee, Wiress, Mags, Plutarch Heavensbee, and Effie Trinket. It was fun to learn more about characters who we see only briefly in the trilogy and understand how they reached the places we find them in in the originals. Beetee’s story, in particular, is quite sad, and Ampert’s death is definitely one of the ones that has stuck with me the most. It was intriguing to hear about Wiress’s Games (the illusion arena), to see the care, kindness, and thoughtfulness that Mags paid to the District 12 tributes, and to learn about how Plutarch attempted to combat the Capitol prior to Mockingjay. But perhaps my favorite backstory is the deluded Effie Trinket’s; as soon as I read that Proserpina called her sister for help, I already knew who was going to show up, and I was not disappointed.
Allusions
One of the reasons I enjoy Suzanne Collins’s work so much is because it is both based on and includes allusions to mythology, history, and literature. The entire concept of Hunger Games is based on Greek mythology, specifically the story of Minos, King of Crete, who forced the Athenians to yield seven boys and seven girls, placing them in the labyrinth, home of the flesh-eating Minotaur, as punishment for murdering one of his sons. The books also draw heavily on Ancient Roman history, particularly the empire’s famous gladiator fights and despotic rulers. Collins also infuses her novels with more recent allusions: in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping, especially, the author nods to the Enlightenment and Romanticism. In The Ballad, Lucy Gray is, of course, named after the central figure in William Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems,” who is entirely one with nature, and in Sunrise, as the novel makes very explicit, Lenore Dove is named after the lost Lenore in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” Additionally, Collins opens Sunrise with quotes from novelist and essayist George Orwell, poet and engraver William Blake, and empiricist philosopher David Hume centering on the theme of venomous truth as propaganda and tyranny.
Sunrise on the Reaping Movie
Lionsgate has already announced that the Sunrise on the Reaping movie will premiere on November 20, 2026, and I am incredibly excited! I am very curious to know who will be cast as Haymitch (and it better be someone good!), who will fill the younger shoes of past characters, like Beetee, Wiress, Mags, Plutarch, graying Snow, and Effie, what the new characters will look like, and if Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will return for Katniss and Peeta’s brief epilogue cameo.
Closing
Overall, I had a great time returning to Panem; it has been so fun to revisit this series at different ages and still be able to enjoy and connect with it. It will be interesting to see whether this ends up being the final Hunger Games installment or if Collins will find some new rock to turn over and create what I’d expect to be another great novel. But, for now, I’m glad that I still have the movie adaptation to look forward to.