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Haley is currently reading

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)

by Suzanne Collins

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2025

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Haley said: " Outstanding. Heart-wrenching. Deeply emotionally moving on every possible level.

lf you've read The Hunger Games original trilogy, then you might remember that Haymitch is the town drunk. Until now, we never know just what made him so dependent on the Outstanding. Heart-wrenching. Deeply emotionally moving on every possible level.

lf you've read The Hunger Games original trilogy, then you might remember that Haymitch is the town drunk. Until now, we never know just what made him so dependent on the bottle. This book takes a closer look at Haymitch's sacrifices, his dreams, and then eventually, his nightmares. We learn what made him who he was when we first met him as a much older man - what he did to try to rebel in his own way, and what it cost him.

Sunrise on the Reaping brings us to Panem 24 years before we first meet Katniss, and 40 years after Snow goes from innocent to evil in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Through Haymitch's eyes, we experience his hope and determination to make a difference, even if that difference only extends to himself in the arena, even if all he can do is show President Snow that he won't submit. We see him hope, try, and fail several times throughout this story - going through this cycle again and again. It hurt my heart every time, but what it also did was show us just what goes into a successful rebellion. Through his constant cycling in and out of these hope, try, and fail stages, and with our knowledge of the timeline from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes until the end of Mockingjay, one thing is clear: There will be countless failures along the way and unimaginable sacrifices to make. But without them, we will never be free. There would have been no rebellion for Katniss to lead without the groundwork laid by people in Haymitch's time.

This novel recontextualizes so much from the original trilogy! It also uses what we know from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to inform much of Snow's actions and motivations throughout the series as a whole. So many things come to light; so many pieces fall into place after learning what we learn from these two prequels. We begin to understand just how far back the mockingjay symbol goes, what it truly means to people, and how it's carried through the whole series. And we learn how integral the Covey are to the narrative of the series as a whole. I could go on and on about how inspiration, motivation, and courage are passed through generations - Collins weaves an intricate web of countless moving parts in the most expert manner.

I already adored Haymitch, and this novel made my heart soar and grow three sizes for him. With the two prequels under my belt, it makes me want to re-read the trilogy - no doubt I will pick up on details that I wouldn't have understood before. 5 stars, easy 🌟 ...more "

Jan 13, 2026 01:37PM · see review