Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
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.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #11: A prequel)
The Reason
I’m a huge fan of The Hunger Games, so obviously I had to read this!
The Quotes
“They will not use my tears for their entertainment.”
“You were capable of imagining a different future. And maybe it won’t be realized today, maybe not in our lifetime. Maybe it will take generations. We’re all part of a continuum. Does that make it pointless?”
“Fire is catching, she’d say, but if this one burns down the arena, I say good riddance.”
“In fifty years, we’ve only had one victor, and that was a long time ago. A girl who no one seems to know anything about.”
The Narrator(s)
Jefferson White. It was absolutely wonderful and I was fully immersed.
My Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of the original trilogy for The Hunger Games, but I was initially resistent when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out because I wasn’t interested in President Snow’s childhood. I did end up reading it and enjoying it very much, and also really admiring Collins’ vision of how things started. So when this book came out, I was excited because I am much more interested in Haymitch’s story, and I also have a lot more confidence that Collins will do a great job with it.
Reading Haymitch’s story, I like getting to know him better. I like learning what really happened with him. I don’t think this story could work on its own but somehow I love THG enough that I want to know more, not just about him, but about other characters too. I’d love a book about Finnick as well, and Johanna, and Beetee, and Mags, and several other characters. I know a lot of people think additional books in THG universe aren’t necessary, and I agree somewhat that I don’t think any of these stories work on their own but I still want to know them!
Perhaps a happy compromise for me is an actual manifestation of that memorial book that Katniss and Peeta were working on, a sort of dictionary/encyclopedia type book with pictures and information about the Victors throughout the years, the people who loved them and whom they loved, anecdotes about them. I would love that!! In any case, at this point I’m not tired of THG world yet and I’ll probably read more if Collins wrote them!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
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