The Hunger Games has been a very popular book and movie series. Followers have grown to love and wonder about the backgrounds of characters and what their upbringing was like. For example, what did Haymitch Abernathy go through during his reaping of the 2nd Quarter Quell Hunger Games?
Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanna Collins walks the reader through the games of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mallark’s mentor, who is a prior victor from his season of the Hunger Games. The book goes through Abernathy’s life before, during, and after the games. It is a roller coaster of grief, guilt, survival, power, hope, and thought-provoking words that make up the whole book.
I enjoyed that this book had symbolism and topics that have been brought up in the past books; The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, and The Ballad of the Song Birds and Snakes. Everything came together with the theme and characters that have come up in multiple books, and it was interesting to read from a different character’s point of view. Some of my favorite characters from past books like Beetee and Wiress appear, and this made me understand the characters and their upbringing more.
Readers get to understand the environment of Wiress’s Hunger Games season and its dangers, and they learn how Beetee had to mentor his own child, Ampert, while also trying to help Haymitch succeed. Character Lucy Gray Baird from The Ballad of the Song Birds and Snakes also shows up multiple times.
Haymitch watches her season while recovering after winning the games and sees President Snow in the background wondering why he was there. Snow also warns Haymitch not to date someone in the Covey, like Lucy Gray, and how the game is really saving Abernathy. By visiting topics and events from the past books in the trilogy, it helps readers understand the crossover with little details that can be missed and how important they really are.
My favorite part of the book describes the preparation before the Hunger Games begins, including the interviews and character development, because it lets readers meet and understand more characters along with Haymitch, and the emotions and feelings before going into the games. I was very excited to start this book, and it lived up to my expectations. I wanted to read another Hunger Games book where it felt like reading the first book in the series because the books after the first was not as much about the games but more about defeating President Snow.
However, the structure and details of this book are just what I wanted. My favorite characters throughout the book are Haymitch Abernathy, Maysilee Donner, and Effi e Trinket. Haymitch and Effi e are also in the Hunger Games trilogy books, so I already liked these characters, but Maysilee is a new tribute character that I enjoyed reading about. Effie Trinket in the new book does not yet have the job of reaping the kids for the Hunger Games in District 12. Instead she is a stylist that tries to help Haymitch and the other tributes with sympathy.
I think Collins could have made the book longer because the description of the preparation before the games takes over 100 pages, but the actual Hunger Games itself only happen in 100 pages or less, which made the end feel rushed. After The Hunger Games finishes, the book is close to done, and there could have been more pages for Haymitch’s life after the contest.
Overall, the new book lived up to my expectations and more. I recommend this book to anyone who has liked the movies and has read the books. I could not put this book down and I could not wait to turn the page each time.
