Sunrise on the Reaping: A Hunger Games Novel

Suzanne Collins has been on a run now of adding in more and more backstory to the original Hunger Games novels. The first one, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” was a compelling addition to the series and gave us a backdrop that fleshed out the principal antagonist in great detail. It was foundational in many ways. In 2025, Collins introduced the next entry into the prequel series in “Sunrise on the Reaping.” To say I was eagerly anticipating this book would be an understatement. We fast forward a couple of decades from “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and are introduced to the backstory of two principal characters from the original trilogy in Haymitch Abernathy and Plutarch Heavensbee. Getting to know more about these two is compelling; the execution was a bit formulaic. Where I thought we had something refreshing in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” this one feels like Collins serving us more Hunger Games Core. While the ending and class contentions will have you doubling down on your hate of the Capitol and tapping into your spirit of revolution, I do not believe this book adds to the overall lore of the Hunger Games universe. I really do love the series and hope that Collins continues to extend it in many ways. I just hope that we move away from the games and maybe cover the resistance perspective during the war and maybe even the mysterious north.

This book was phenomenal. If you like the Hunger Games Series, you will heavily enjoy this prequel. While reading, you will find yourself gasping at the parallels and how this story truly connects with every other book in an unexpected way. It is one of the best books I have indulged in.

As a big fan of the hunger games, I was going into the book thinking I had an idea of what I was about to read from previously having read Catching Fire. I was 100% wrong. I felt like there was so many surprises in the story I did not see coming. I was left heartbroken. And truly this book has become one of my favorite reads.

I loved this novel and thought it was an important story to tell in this trilogy. While we all know how the series ends, it’s a story of a teenager with a good heart that had the world (Snow and the capitol) against him. A reminder that even if you don’t attain your goals for 25 years, it doesn’t mean that it won’t occur. Of course Hayworth struggled- to love and loss as he did, is a great feat. I thought it was a story of hope and love.

Review: While I did enjoy it, it was the weakest among the franchise as a whole. The origins of Haymitch was interesting but alas repetitive especially among the Games themselves. Has is accompanied by a companion, gone; rinse and repeat. Also, there being more than one familiar faces from the past distracted me from the storytelling. However the arena itself is still brutal, and I appreciated the nod to Lucy Gray.