Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Review | The Hunger Games #0.5
“I know that every year for my birthday, I will get a new pair of tributes, one girl and one boy, to mentor to their deaths. Another sunrise on the reaping.”
Goodreads : 4.18 stars, 36,423 ratings, 9,501 reviews
Format : 448 pages, Paperback
Published : February 11, 2025 by Berkley
Genres : Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Friends To Lovers, Workplace Romance, Adult Fiction
Tropes : Radio Show Romance, Phone Call Meet Cute, Grumpy x Sunshine, Workplace Romance, Forced proximity, Single mom, Found Family, Inspired by Sleepless in Seattle
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About Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins / Summary
Sunrise on the Reaping is 0.5 book in Suzanne Collins Hunger Games series and the sequel of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Set in the same hunger games world, 24 years before the first hunger games book It’s about Haymitch Abernathy.
During the Second Quarter Quell of the 50th Hunger Games Haymitch Abernathy from District 12 reaches twenty as he faces the inhumane system that aims to destroy him in the brutal games. The bitter alteration of the Quarter Quell tribute rules destroys all of Haymitch’s dreams as it forcibly tears him from his nearest and dearest people including his beloved girl. As a District 12 tribute his alliance with other Capitol victims becomes clear because the Capitol schemed his demise from the beginning.
An unyielding commitment erupts in his heart to confront both the captainial dominance and the possibility of staying alive. The book exposes how the Capitol falsified truths while revealing the cruel entertainment nature of their actions together with their propaganda extent. Through its narrative the book investigates themes that explore oppression alongside manipulation processes and studies the human strength which maintains existence under merciless violence.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Blurb + Tropes
My Review on Sunrise on the Reaping + Favorite Quotes (Spoiler Free)
When this book was announced on June 6, last year I was on cloud 9 because we are finally getting Haymitch’s book! Ever since I first watched the hunger games movie I wondered what happened to haymitch that made him this version of himself. I could literally feel the pain through the screen and kept on Wondering what his story was exactly and I wish we could get an insight.
Now after finally getting his book I don’t know how to feel. He went through so much. His life before, the experiences, brutality, sacrifices everything was so painful. As much as I am happy with the sunrise and reaping movie adaptation news I still can’t process and move on from the book.
“I’m hoping to finish my work before the ceremony so I can devote the afternoon to the two things I love best — wasting time and being with my girl, Lenore Dove.”
– This is how the book begins. I don’t know how I still continued it. Just an ordinary boy who lives with his mother and brother. Goes to school, works, loves to be with his girl. But sooner everything will be changed. The cruel world will take everything from him.
“Like two Hunger Games in one. No way to control the outcome of the reaping or what follows it. So don’t feed the nightmares. Don’t let yourself panic. Don’t give the Capitol that. They’ve taken enough already.”
– Haymitch Abernathy, you deserve the entire world. A sweet boy who was forced to be broken. A boy who was practical. Above all the hope he did everything he could to survive. Which cost him a lot but he kept on going. He had hopes, he tried all his best to save the people he loved but had to lose them in the end but kept on surviving.
The sweet boy also had dreams, people he wanted the world to live with but the capitol shattered all these dreams along with his life, shattered them piece by piece, taking away all the people he loves. But he kept on going for them.
“We all stare at Wyatt, who keeps his eyes on the competition as he muses, You might not want me, but it’s a sure bet you need me.”
– Wyatt Callow. I love him. He was the Finnick Odair of this book. His charm, sarcasm everything felt like I think I’ve seen this film before but I didn’t like the ending. Haymitch and Wyatt grew up together and were very close. So it was definitely very painful to see and feel how much it affected Haymitch.
The narrative “Sunrise on the Reaping” gives an intimate examination of Haymitch Abernathy’s developing mental breakdown that piece by piece reveals the true nature of this character. Through breaking Haymitch into agonizing parts Collins demonstrates his shattered state rather than describing it with words alone. Through deliberate acts of evil the Capitol slowly destroys everything he cared about beginning from Wyatt and ending with Lenore as Haymitch transforms from his original innocent state to a hollow being.
The book showcases extraordinary skill when depicting the Capitol’s savage actions along with their destructive psychological effects on Haymitch’s mind. The book presents more than a rehashed version of the Hunger Games because it confronts viewers with the unflinching vision of power dynamics and survival at expense. Through his remarkable skill Collins creates characters and a meticulously detailed world which links both returning and new elements essential to his narratives. The story explores influential topics of propaganda, oppressive governmental authority and powerful control methods which speak to current societal discomfiture.
This measured rhythm lets readers bond deeply with Haymitch so that his final mental collapse becomes more severe. The story concludes tragically yet organically as it portrays a sincere picture of the universe that Collins established.
