Author Suzanne Collins truly has a gift for crafting a world free of plot holes, and this book was no exception.
Following the release of the book and film “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Collins announced yet another prequel in the Hunger Games franchise. “Sunrise on the Reaping” follows Haymitch Abernathy, mentor to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the original trilogy, through his games — the 50th Hunger Games and the second Quarter Quell.
The book begins on the morning of Haymitch’s 16th birthday. Haymitch’s games are different from Katniss and Peeta’s first set, as the Quarter Quell reaps double the amount of tributes from each district, two males and two females. When one of the original male tributes is killed by Peacekeepers, Haymitch is selected in his place.
Throughout the book, Collins includes cameos of many familiar characters from other books in the series. On Reaping Day, Katniss’ and Peeta’s fathers make appearances as two of Haymitch’s closest friends.
Following the Reaping, Haymitch is placed on a train with his fellow tributes from District 12, bound for the Capitol. District 12’s escort is unsympathetic to the horror that the tributes will soon face, which causes conflict early on in the story.
Additionally, District 12 has no living victors at this time, and therefore the tributes are assigned non-District 12 mentors who do not appear invested in the lives of the tributes, which creates anxiety among the group.
The stylists for District 12 are likewise unconcerned with the lives of the tributes, and therefore put little to no effort in presenting them positively. During the opening ceremonies, the tributes for District 12 are presented in drab coal miner-esque outfits, making them unappealing to potential sponsors. The horses pulling their chariot go crazy, leaving one of the tributes dead — a young girl named Louella whom Haymitch had taken under his wing. Haymitch is outraged and makes a scene in front of the audience in order to call out President Snow for his cruelty.
Here, we see one of many parallels between Haymitch and Katniss. In “The Hunger Games,” Katniss takes a young girl, Rue, under her wing. When Rue is fatally wounded by another tribute, Katniss holds her as she dies, showing deep empathy and compassion, which are not traits that will entertain the Capitol audience and therefore are seen as rebellious by Snow.
After Louella’s death, Haymitch is thrust into the role of rebellion sympathizer.
During training, he meets Beetee, a character from the original trilogy, and his son Ampert, a fellow tribute, who enlist him in the task of destroying the arena.
Throughout the games, we see from a first-person perspective just how selfless Haymitch truly is. He tries to portray himself as carefree and unaffected in order to protect his fellow tributes and those he loves back home; however, it is not enough.
Though Haymitch does win the games, his prize is less than satisfactory. His rebellion throughout the course of the games, from the reaping itself until the conclusion of the games, made him a target of the Capitol’s, and particularly President Snow’s, cruelty. The epilogue of the book wraps up the story succinctly, showing us exactly why Haymitch behaves the way he does in the original trilogy: He wants to protect the people he loves because there have been so many people he could not save.
While this book will likely appeal to longtime fans of the franchise, the writing was not Collins’ best. The parallels between characters were fun, but the presentation was a bit on the nose. While this can be seen as a negative aspect of the book, it’s also important to remember that the target audience for this book and the series at large is young adult readers.
The book provided details about Haymitch that fans of the series have been in search of for years, as well as connections between characters of lesser importance, making the world feel more well-rounded and complex.
