Sunrise on the Reaping (2025)

*Premise spoilers*

The newest book in the Hunger Games series is here, and it’s a doozy, in more ways than one. Like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it’s a prequel to the original trilogy, this time telling us Haymitch’s story. Back when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was first announced, I wondered, “Who asked for this?”, but I happily wound up eating my words. This time around, I kept the faith, and the book did not disappoint.

On his 16^th birthday, Haymitch Abernathy goes to the reaping, as he’s required to do every year. The 50^th annual Hunger Games has a cruel added twist—double the usual number of tributes—and Haymitch finds himself perhaps the unluckiest of the unlucky 48 kids sent to the Arena. Having already resigned himself to his death, Haymitch decides to use his last days on Earth finding a way to “paint a poster,” demonstrating that the Capitol isn’t invulnerable.

My biggest curiosity going into this book is that we already got a rundown of Haymitch’s Games in Catching Fire, when Katniss watches the recap from the second Quarter Quell. What were going to get that was new? Well, as it turns out, a lot. I love how Suzanne Collins uses the opportunity to expand on the story of Haymitch’s Games, exploring the theme of propaganda and media manipulation. Katniss watches this story as edited by the Capitol; but what really happened? That’s the question the book answers.

I thought The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes wound up being a really interesting prequel for Coriolanus Snow and the evolution of the Games themselves, how they became what they are by Katniss’s time. But Sunrise on the Reaping serves as a spectacular bridge between that book and the original trilogy. Collins pulls in sooooo many connective threads: familiar characters, songs, objects, locations, and themes all wind up playing a part, tying the entire series together wonderfully well. To me, it feels like the book crystalizes everything she’s been saying from the start, the codex by which to understand the trajectory of the full story. Reading it, I was continually impressed by the level of detail, all the complex interconnections we’re given.

As for Haymitch himself, it’s both fascinating and heartbreaking to see what he was like before the reaping, throughout the Games, and after, including what we know of him throughout the trilogy. This book is a little bit like Revenge of the Sith, in that we already know it’s going to end brutally—it makes for a painful read, but it’s still so rewarding. Also, I’ve never been more grateful for an epilogue in my life!

I know recency bias is a thing, but I genuinely think this might be the best book in the series. Although I love the trilogy and always will, Collins’s writing has only matured and grown richer over time. Sunrise on the Reaping 100% has me back in my Hunger Games era. I now have an even more devastating perspective on Haymitch, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes soundtrack has been on regular rotation for me, I’ve broken out my Hunger Games cookbook again, and I’m thinking I need to reread all the books now, followed by a rewatch of the films. What a wonderfully written book with so much to say!

Warnings

Graphic violence against children, strong thematic elements (including suicide and addiction,) disturbing images, gross-out scenes, drinking, and language.