33. Sunrise on the Reaping

 

33. Sunrise on the Reaping. Suzanne Collins. 2025. 382 pages. [Source: Library] [audio book!] [4 stars, YA dystopia, YA thriller, YA fiction, series book]

First sentence: "Happy birthday, Haymitch!" The upside of being born on reaping day is that you can sleep late on your birthday.

My thoughts (preview): Is Sunrise on the Reaping a necessary addition to the Hunger Games series? Maybe. Maybe not. Readers will most likely come to the book knowing both a) how Haymitch's story ends (as revealed in the Hunger Games book series) and b) Haymitch's Hunger Games story (the 50th Hunger Games). At the very, very, very least they will know Haymitch was the victor for Twelve during his year. There remains no way to keep suspense in the story. 

Premise/plot: Readers who have [long] been fans of the Hunger Games will get Haymitch's backstory in greater depth. There are plenty of details to be filled in that haven't been revealed already. 

My thoughts: I am SO CONFLICTED.

On the one hand, this is set roughly twenty-five (twenty-four) years before the first Hunger Games book. Readers catch glimpses of what life was like in Twelve when Haymitch was a teen. They get to know him before he'd touched a drop of alcohol. Readers see how life in the Capital is as well. MAGS. MAGS. MAGS. (You might say I was thrilled to get to see Mags again). Readers also meet a VERY young Effie Trinket. Another familiar character is PLUTARCH and, of course, President Snow.

On the other hand, there is something futile and hopeless about Sunrise on the Reaping. There is no suspense. EVERYTHING we know about Haymitch in the "present" (aka Hunger Games trilogy) leaves no doubt that the book cover-to-cover will be futile, meaningless, hopeless. No possibility for a smidgen of happiness or peace. 

The plot itself is BRUTAL, brutal, more brutal, all bleak all the way. 

There are no surprises. I mentioned twice now how the book lacks suspense. I think this is the nature of the Games. ALL the books that feature Hunger Games are going to follow a set pattern, formula, rigidity. There is nothing new under the sun. What allows for more unique storytelling is before and after. And again, readers know how the story is going to end--Haymitch bitter, angry, disturbed, apathetic, drunk, a waste. But what the book does is strip away the possibility of a happier Haymitch AFTER the third book. Perhaps this is because this is something the movie gives him that the book never intended? Perhaps this is Suzanne Collins way of saying IGNORE THE MOVIES, Haymitch is *mine*.

Several things to note: FIRST it seems that there is nothing new under the sun. I wouldn't be surprised if every year of the Games there's a few kids [at least] who try to rebel against the system and break the games and make a stand and whatnot. Katniss was not the first. Just the last.

Second, the book's greatest strength will be in CHARACTERS and RELATIONSHIPS. Readers know that the game will be brutal, bloody, bleak, ugly, horrific, psychologically damaging, twisted. But it is in how the main character is in relationship with others in the arena that matters. 

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews