The Mycenaean

Sunrise on the Reaping is the much anticipated fifth installment of Suzanne Collins’s bestselling series The Hunger Games. The book follows Haymitch Abernathy, a side character from the original trilogy, as he attempts to survive the 50th Annual Hunger Games which is decades before the first four books.

*NOTE: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian North American nation called Panem, comprised of twelve “districts” ruled by The Capital. Prior to the events of the first book, the districts attempted to rebel against The Capital but ultimately failed. 

As punishment, every year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to participate in the annual “Hunger Games”, a fight to the death broadcasted to the nation. 

Haymitch Abernathy is a minor protagonist in the original trilogy. As District 12’s only living victor of the Hunger Games, he was tasked with guiding Katniss Everdeen to victory in the 74th Hunger Games. 

However, in Sunrise on the Reaping, we get to see what Haymitch’s own Hunger Games were like. 

We learn in the original books that during Haymitch’s games, twice the amount of tributes were reaped due to it being the second Quarter Quell, leading to there being 48 tributes instead of 24. However, in Sunrise on the Reaping readers learn that Haymitch was reaped somewhat illegally, which adds an interesting plot point to the book. 

One of my favorite parts of the book was the callbacks to previous books in the series. Sunrise on the Reaping gives readers more background on fan-favorite characters like Effie Trinket, Wiress, Mags Flanagan, and the polarizing President Snow.

Another part of the book I enjoyed was Haymitch’s romance Lenore Dove. I liked Lenore Dove’s character, and their love story motivated Haymitch to make a lot of the choices he did in the arena. 

My favorite person in the book was Maysilee Donner. She’s mentioned in the original trilogy, but her character was extremely sassy and smart, and I loved every scene with her in it. 

Overall, I thought the book was good and deserving of the hype. It gave readers an interesting POV from a character many fans like and expanded knowledge of an intriguing dystopian world.