Sunrise on the Reaping: A Devastating Return to the Arena

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins has quickly become a fan favorite since its release earlier this year. The iconic young adult dystopian series, The Hunger Games, now has a powerful new addition. Collins delivers once again with a heart-wrenching novel filled with heartbreak, friendship, and so much injustice it has readers buying candles and muttering curses under their breath.

This story takes readers back in time to the second Quarter Quell, the fiftieth anniversary of the Hunger Games. Haymitch Abernathy, a boy fighting for a future with the girl he loves, sees his world torn apart when he is sent to the Capitol. He is ripped from everything familiar and must survive a Hunger Games with twice as many tributes as usual. We know he survives, but at what cost?

Suzanne Collins has outdone herself with a story that hits deeply. While reading this book, my heart broke for the characters. They live in a world where death is always close. Every one of them has lost someone they love. Fictional or not, their pain feels real, and those moments change them forever.

Collins has written a novel filled with tension and suspense. The characters and their relationships are so layered that I cried more than once, then immediately told my friends they had to read it. I have seen nothing but praise for this installment. It fits seamlessly into the original series and gives us a new lens on a familiar face.

For the first time, we truly understand Haymitch. His bitterness, his drinking, and his detachment are not random. They are the scars of a boy whose life was destroyed on national television. He is not a cold mentor. He is a survivor still trying to protect the broken parts of himself.

“I love you like all-fire.” That line alone broke me.

I sincerely recommend this book to anyone who has read The Hunger Games. And if you have not, now is the perfect time to start.