Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins - ★★★★.½
AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins
NARRATOR: Jefferson White
SERIES: The Hunger Games, #0.5
GENRE: YA Dystopian Fiction.
PUBLICATION DATE: March 18, 2025
RATING: 4.5 stars.
In a Nutshell: The fifth book in the Hunger Games series, second in chronological order. Focusses on the 50th Hunger games and its winner, Haymitch Abernathy. Gets everything right from characters to plot to action to emotions to continuity. I am so thrilled one of my favourite characters of the HG universe got this fabulous book. If only it could have been happier, but we know it’s not possible. Much recommended. Read this only after reading the earlier four books.
Plot Preview:
On Haymitch’s 16th birthday, he wants to spend some time with the girl he loves. Unfortunately, his birthday is the same date as the Reaping. This year’s games are special. As the 50th edition of the hunger games, the Quarter Quell will have double the number of tributes from each district. Haymitch hopes against hope that his name won't be chosen. But we know what is to happen… Or do we?
The story comes to us in Haymitch’s first-person perspective.
The Hunger Games series was planned as a trilogy. Then we got ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes', a prequel set more than six decades before the main storyline and focussing on one key character. Now we have this interim book that is set between the first prequel and the original trilogy and concentrating on another key character. Can you even imagine the authorial nightmare of ensuring continuity not just ahead into the trilogy but also retrospectively from the prequel?
That’s not the only challenge. Haymitch is, as you might know if you’ve read/watched the original trilogy, the winner of the Second Quarter Quell. So we already know that he isn’t just a participant in the 50th games but the champion. Which also means that all the other tributes we meet over the course of the story are going to die at some point or the other. We also are aware that during Katniss’s games (the 74th edition), Haymitch stays alone in the Victor’s village as a reclusive alcoholic with no family. With readers already knowing the outcome of the 50th games and the loneliness that awaits Haymitch in future, how can an author ensure that they don’t lose interest in a journey where the destination is going to be upsetting?
Neither of these is a task that can be pulled off successfully by an inferior author.
Suzanne Collins is no inferior author. (I still haven’t forgiven her for killing off you-know-who in Book Three, but that doesn’t mean she can't write.) The two-way flow across all the books in terms of characters as well as storyline is seamless and flawless. I am so impressed at how she handled this story with no plot holes, no continuity gaps, and plenty of freshness and twisty surprises in the games experience despite this being the fourth games we are seeing in the series.
Basically, this book is a work of genius. This is a true Hunger Games book.
Haymitch is an outstanding character, which we already know from the main trilogy. But reading his experience as a sixteen-year-old in this book offers us so much more insight into why he is the way he is. My heart broke for him multiple times over.
The secondary characters in this book are also fabulous. Be it Haymitch’s girlfriend, his family, the other residents of District Twelve, the other participants in the quarter quell, the mentors, the game organisers, or even Coriolanus Snow, every single character has a strong and well-defined place in the narrative.
Needless to say, the 50th Hunger Games being the Second Quarter Quell and having double the number of participants means that the games are even more brutal. The game scenes have the perfect mix of solo survival, combative action, and moral conflicts. I found it bittersweet that the author provided names of every single one of the forty-eight participants. It made the losses feel more real somehow.
There are plenty of Easter eggs in this novel coming from both the first prequel as well as the main trilogy (way more than were present in 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes') There are quite a few special appearances as well from characters we meet in the original trilogy. Given that there is just a 24-years gap between this novel and Book One, the likelihood of common characters was obviously greater, but I certainly didn’t anticipate some of the people that popped up in this novel. What a thrilling surprise!
I wasn’t a big fan of the prequel starring Snow. As I had mentioned in its review, the book felt somewhat boring because Snow wasn't a participant, just a mentor. I missed the main action of the hunger games. Not this time. Haymitch’s experience in the games and the tortures awaiting him and the other participants elevate the overall impact of the book. To me, this was the darkest of the five books, which is a lofty declaration to make for a series where all books contain so much doom and gloom.
Another reason why this prequel works so much better is the difference in the characters’ inherent nature. Snow might not be so heinous as a teen in Prequel #1, but he was still a self-serving jerk. As such, we only see him go from bad to worse. There is nothing redeemable about his behaviour, which makes it tough to empathise with his troubles. But Haymitch as a youngster? So much vitality, so much charm, so much potential! We can see what could have been his future if destiny hadn’t intervened. This drastic turnaround in his fate and the resultant impact on his demeanour makes the story way more compelling. Plus, it is always easier to root for an underdog than a hellhound.
The only complaint I can legitimately make about this book is that the epilogue felt strangely dragged and rushed at once. Can't go into spoilers, so that’s all I’ll say.
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 12 hours 48 min, is narrated by Jefferson White. His narration was splendid. I don’t know if he deliberately did this or if it was wishful manifestation on my part, but his speaking style/accent sounded a lot like that of Woody Harrelson (who plays Haymitch in the movie adaptation of the trilogy.) As such, my head could easily picture a younger version of Harrelson as sixteen-year-old Haymitch and maintain the continuity with the movie as well. White narrates every scene with finesse, varying his articulation, his tempo, and his pitch depending on the dominant emotion in that scene. The only part I wasn’t a big fan of was all the songs and the poems, especially in the final scenes where they felt like an overkill. Then again, compared to the narrator who murdered all the songs in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with his pathetic rendition, White is a hundred times better. I’d strongly recommend the audio version, as long as you wouldn’t get bogged down by the numerous characters.
Overall, this was easily the best book of the series for me. I picked this up only for my fondness for Haymitch, and it offered me everything I could have wanted, and more. I can't see any way in which the book had scope for improvement. Yeah, I would have liked my heart not to have been bruised and broken multiple times over, but that’s 'The Hunger Games’ hallmark.
After the disappointing experience of Book Four, I am beyond ecstatic that the series swerved upwards in quality. Unfortunately, if you need to appreciate this book to the fullest, you still need to read the other books first. I’d suggest reading the series in publication order and not chronological order. Even if you already get spoilers for the two prequels from the main trilogy, you will be able to comprehend the whats and whys far better if you go by the publication sequence.
Do I want another Hunger Games book in future? Not really. I’d love for the series to end on this high note. That said, if a new book does pop up, I won't say no to it, though I am not sure what character is still left with a worthy backstory long enough to fill an entire novel. Tigris, perhaps? She’s the only character with a drastic transition and a life almost as long as Snow’s. It would be a gripping narrative, albeit without any hunger games. (Unless she designed clothes for any of the interim participants... Now there’s a thought!)
Much, much recommended to those who have read the first four books of the series.
This was a library read.
Movie fans: The cast list for this has been announced and it is spectacular! Every single actor seems apt for their role. I am especially excited about seeing Ralph Fiennes as Snow! 🤯😍 Nov 20, 2026 can’t come soon enough!
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