Almost 20 years ago, Suzanne Collins came out with her first Hunger Games book which quickly became one of the most popular dystopian novels of all, blooming into a trilogy now with two prequels. Collins’ latest prequel, “Sunrise on the Reaping” follows the story of a young Haymitch Abernathy and his experience in the 50th annual Hunger Games. Haymitch was first introduced in the original Hunger Games book as the angry, alcoholic mentor to Katniss and Peeta. I was very excited to read “Sunrise on the Reaping” as Haymitch had always fascinated me as a character and I had high hopes after the intriguing backstory of President Snow that came out a few years ago.
The beginning of the story starts off almost identically to the original story of Katniss. Haymitch lives in District 12, enjoys spending time illegally making money in the woods and has a childhood friend that’s the love of his life. He even lives with his mother and little sibling just like Katniss does. This was a little disappointing for me as I thought the entire book was going to be a carbon copy of the original with a male lead. The only difference seemed to be the way Haymitch was reaped by way of punishment and the fact that there were four tributes from each district rather than the usual two.
The story rolled on in this fashion until a slight shake of events when Haymitch made a spectacle of the Capitol and President Snow after one of his fellow tributes from 12 died during a parade gone wrong. From this moment on, Haymitch seems bent on not allowing the Capitol to “paint their posters with his blood.” This rings out as a common theme throughout the novel as a handful of the tributes stand determined to prevent the Capitol from making a fool of them. I love this theme of rejecting compliance and standing up for what you know is right. In the midst of all the training and interviews for the Games, Haymitch finds himself in the middle of a scheme to “break” the arena and make a fool of the Capitol for a change.
This is where the story really starts to pick up as Haymitch enters the arena and attempts to make it to the sublevel of the arena so he can blow it up. Long story short, Haymitch does make it there and sets the explosive but the impact wasn’t great enough to “break” the arena. As punishment, President Snow allows Haymitch to live through the gruesome deaths and torture of those he loves the most. When returning to District 12, Haymitch turns to alcohol as a way to forget these horrendous experiences.
If you’re a sucker for backstories and the Hunger Games series as a whole, I would highly recommend reading “Sunrise on the Reaping.” Throughout the novel, I was constantly on edge wondering how Haymitch would become the depressed alcoholic he was in the trilogy. Then it all became painfully clear in the end with plenty of “don’t do it!” moments that have you practically screaming at the book. Collins always has a way of bringing her intricate characters to life in a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel and “Sunrise on the Reaping” was no different.
