Sunrise On The Reaping Review (Suzanne Collins)

Cover for “Sunrise On The Reaping” by Suzanne Collins. Image taken from Scholastic.

DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM, CLICK OUT NOW.

The other day, a new book was released. In fact, it was a rather highly-anticipated new book, the sort of book that is hyped for months even as many indie authors struggle to break onto the scene.

The book I am speaking of, of course, is none other than Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise On The Reaping. It’s the second Hunger Games prequel after The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes, which is one of my “DNF” books. I just couldn’t jibe with the fact that President Snow was the protagonist. But I was eager to read this one.

When I went to the store the other day, they were reportedly running out of copies. It’s pretty rare for that to happen these days, isn’t it?

In any case, I have a long history with The Hunger Games. I first read the books when I was 13 years old - if you’re doing the math, that was eleven years ago. Later, I learned that fanfiction was a thing, and I found another trilogy of stories within the fandom. Hoprocker Hunger Games is, in my opinion, better than the actual books, for one simple reason: You get to know all the tributes, and it isn’t immediately obvious who will win the Games, so you actually care when each child does.

Of course, in the modern era, it can’t be ignored that I live in the United States. With the sheer number of school shootings America has suffered (or honestly, brought upon ourselves), the concept of children killing each other in an arena hits a little close to home. But that’s enough about that.

Suzanne Collins, the author, had said that this second prequel would explore propaganda and its impact on the populace. And I must tell you that it delivered on this promise. Whether it’s giving Haymitch a birthday cake right after he’s selected for the Hunger Games (when it’s expected to be his last birthday), or covering up an incident that underscores the Capitol’s incompetence, propaganda was front and center.

While this novel was undoubtedly written prior to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, it also felt very timely. In the real-life United States, the country that could conceivably one day become Panem, half the country is driven into a frenzy by how “amazing” Donald Trump is. The President (yuck) himself even has his mugshot framed in the White House.

As cringe-worthy as that might be, who can forget that time Kellyanne Conway, at the start of Trump’s first term, went in front of the American public and used the term “Alternative Facts”. At the time, it was totally shocking, and now we’re used to it. The people of Panem have had even more time to become used to it.

Anyway, Sunrise On The Reaping is about the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell, which was won by Haymitch Abernathy of District 12. Before Haymitch was the perpetually-inebriated victor who mentored Katniss and Peeta in the original trilogy, he was a profane sixteen-year-old in love with his girlfriend Lenore Dove. 

And yes, I said profane. I noticed while reading this book that the characters, particularly Haymitch, swear a lot more than they did in the original trilogy. This isn’t a content warning or anything of the sort, mind you - it just surprised me a bit. But I guess that’s 2025 for you; people simply can’t read anything that doesn’t have some cussing for comic relief. Kind of sad when you put it that way, but it is what it is.

One thing that dragged this book down for me, if only slightly, was that I already knew what would happen at the end. Catching Fire, after all, explored Haymitch’s past. It may have been in less detail than Sunrise On The Reaping, but we still knew that the 50th Hunger Games was set in a gorgeous meadow with succulent fruit and butterflies in a veritable rainbow of colors…oh yeah, except for the fact that everything was deadly.

Even though I had a solid idea of how the story would end, I still couldn’t put this book down for the first day. That really says something given how short the average attention span is these days!

Another element of this novel that took me out of the story every so often was the sheer amount of music mentioned. There were chapters where every other page featured song lyrics, and it felt like I was being pulled away from all the action. Was it the end of the world? No. Did it hinder my enjoyment just a little? Yes.

Let’s talk a little more about the way the Capitol tries to protect its image. When the District 12 Reaping goes horribly wrong (though four children are ultimately selected, since this Quarter Quell has twice as many tributes), footage is doctored to make it look like everything went smoothly. I’m not kidding - they even go back for reaction shots of the tributes’ family members!

When Haymitch becomes part of a plot to subvert the Capitol’s efforts (which I’m not going to get into detail of for fear of spoiling anyone who’s yet to read the book), his efforts are ultimately cut out of the edited version of the 50th Hunger Games.

I felt like this ties back to real life as well. Donald Trump might be President of the United States now, but he’s still a deeply insecure man who can best be described as a sore winner. I mean, there’s literally a song that raps about how he won in every state. (No, he didn’t. And he didn’t win “in” every state either, since not a single county in Massachusetts voted for Trump). Anyway…

Though it’s not nearly as extreme a case as in Panem, this reminded me of how the show Survivor leaves so much footage on the cutting room floor - very often, there are alliances we don’t learn about until after the season’s finished airing and a winner has been publicly crowned.

My favorite part of this book was probably the degree to which Suzanne Collins values her readers. We waited five years for this new prequel, so we might as well get characters from the original trilogy. She sure paid attention to detail when putting the universe together. It’s no wonder it took five years to write - that’s the sort of dedication I could only dream of. 

I never thought Sunrise On The Reaping would have a happy ending. Again, we already know what eventually becomes of Haymitch, though I suppose that’s a problem with prequels in general. Still, I found this a very compelling read, which reminded me of Haymitch’s line in the original trilogy about how there are no winners of the Hunger Games, only survivors.

Overall, I think anyone who wants to get back to the Hunger Games universe should read this novel. I don’t recommend it, however, if you have yet to read The Hunger Games and its two sequels. Really, though, asking someone if they’ve read The Hunger Games is like asking them if they drink water. (At least, if you read this blog.)