This review contains spoilers for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins.
As expected, I flew through Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, and I have to say, without a doubt, this is my favorite title in The Hunger Games series. It’s a masterclass in storytelling, weaving together brutal political intrigue, complex morality, and the inescapable weight of history. This prequel to The Hunger Games delivers everything fans could hope for: a gripping and familiar protagonist, a fresh yet haunting perspective on the Games, and a chilling look at how the Capitol maintains its stranglehold on the districts.
Set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s Reaping, the novel follows Haymitch Abernathy as a sharp-willed 16-year-old, forced into the 50th Hunger Games—better known as the Second Quarter Quell. Collins masterfully deepens his character beyond the drunken mentor we met in The Hunger Games, showing us the raw intelligence, pain, and survival instinct that made him both a victor and a man forever broken by the Capitol’s cruelty. However, if you’re diving into this simply because you want a “Haymitch origin story,” you’re missing the book’s entire purpose.
“So don’t feed the nightmares. Don’t let yourself panic. Don’t give the Capitol that. They’ve taken enough already.”
If The Hunger Games showcased how the Capitol used the Games to pacify the districts through fear and forced reverence, Sunrise on the Reaping examines how these mechanisms strengthened and solidified over time. By Haymitch’s Reaping, the Games have already evolved into a theatrical spectacle much like what we experience in the original trilogy. Propaganda is blatantly used to erase history and reframe suffering, and unlike the barebones of Lucy Gray’s time in the arena, playing the game means more than simply surviving.
We see the spark of this in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but it has become permanently defined in the way the Games have transformed into an interactive spectator sport, complete with familiar sponsor packages and tribute narratives. As someone who wants to take down the Capitol, Haymitch is forced to struggle with his own actions and the way those actions are edited and falsely depicted to his viewers.
“I’m entirely the Capitol’s plaything. They will use me for their entertainment and then kill me, and the truth will have no say in it.”
The Games themselves are some of the most brutal in the series, with twice as many tributes and an arena designed to be an ever-shifting death trap. The moment Haymitch discovers the force field at the edge of the arena—using it to outsmart and ultimately defeat his final opponent—is a stroke of genius, but the Capitol’s response is even more devastating. His refusal to play by their rules, and their cruel punishment of his loved ones after the Games, cements his future disillusionment and deep distrust of the system.
And he isn’t the only one tortured by the system. Fans of Catching Fire will be delighted (and devastated) to return to some of the most prominent tributes in the earlier series, allowing a glimpse into how the Capitol has manipulated them throughout the years.
What makes Sunrise on the Reaping truly shine is how it recontextualizes the entire series. We see why Haymitch is the way he is, why he pushes Katniss and Peeta so hard, and why he never believed in happy endings. It’s a tragedy wrapped in survival, a story that reminds us that even the victors of the Hunger Games never really win.
Collins doesn’t hold back. The novel is filled with gut-punching moments—the brutal deaths of allies and enemies alike, Haymitch’s fleeting hopes crushed by the Capitol’s iron fist, and the slow realization that even surviving means losing everything. Yet, through all the horror, Collins leaves us with a spark of rebellion—the same spark that will one day ignite a revolution.
Sunrise on the Reaping is a stunning addition to The Hunger Games saga, proving once again that Suzanne Collins is a master of dystopian fiction. It’s brutal, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down.
I will always love the boy with the fire starter who ended up mentoring the girl on fire.