Sunrise on the Reaping review

The latest prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins was released on 18th March and after three hours of binge-reading the book, which I pre-ordered months ago in excitement, I was filled with a much deeper level of understanding about district 12’s Quarter Quell Victor.

Background: The original trilogy is a cautionary tale about a country called Panem, in which, for the entertainment of the Capitol citizens, one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts are reaped as tributes to fight to the death until one lone victor remains. The trilogy follows Katniss Everdeen from a 16-year-old girl from the seam to the symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol. In the first prequel, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, where we learn about the tenth Hunger Games and the first, unknown victor from district 12, Lucy Gray Baird, we see the rise of Coriolanus Snow, future President of Panem. Now, we learn about Katniss’s mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, and the story behind his Games.

Events (with as few spoilers as possible!): In the second book of the trilogy, Catching Fire, the reader gains an insight into Haymitch’s Games. Every 25 years, there is a Quarter Quell for maximum entertainment (or, if you’re a tribute, death). On the 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games, which happens to be Haymitch’s birthday, twice as many tributes are reaped; the odds are not in his favour. Filled with beauty, the arena is a murderous creation. Putting the focus onto the power and danger of censorship and media, Collins is swift to point out the contrast between what we see in Catching Fire and Sunrise on the Reaping (SOTR), as so much of his Games was cut out, and for good reason. When Haymitch emerges Victor, he was set to go back to his family, his girlfriend and happiness at last, but instead Haymitch is to be the example for any Victor that decides to humiliate or defy the might of the Capitol. Do you want to know why Haymitch calls Katniss ‘sweetheart’? Do you want to know if any of Lucy Gray’s memory still remains in district 12? Do you want to find out about how Haymitch went from a young, handsome boy to a drunken, traumatised mentor, who despite his best efforts experiences twenty-five more sunrises on the reaping? All is revealed in Suzanne Collins’s latest novel.

My rating: 9/10 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sunrise on the Reaping. Collins once again used songs and poetry to capture the tragedy of Haymitch’s story and as readers, we come to know him and his early relationship with Capitol-born but later rebel leader Plutarch Heavensbee, who questions why the districts haven’t rebelled already. I loved the little nuggets of information in the book about both the earlier prequel and the later trilogy that I would not have understood had I not read them first. That said, if this review sparks your interest in reading Sunrise on the Reaping, I would definitely recommend reading both the trilogy and Ballad to cement your understanding of Panem to give yourself the greatest reading experience. I would have loved to have seen some of Katniss’s Games from Haymitch’s perspective. If Suzanne decides to write more from the Hunger Games universe, I hope to read about Mags’s Games (she won the 11th Hunger Games for district 4) or about the Dark Days (the civil war between the Capitol and the Districts). I would absolutely recommend SOTR to anyone who likes dystopian fiction!