‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ is a near-perfect prequel

Five years after the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and a decade after the conclusion of the original Hunger Games trilogy, author Suzanne Collins has made her highly anticipated return to the nation of Panem in a prequel following the beloved character Haymitch Abernathy in his games. 

Released on March 18, “Sunrise on the Reaping” follows 16-year-old Haymitch in the 50th Hunger Games, a special anniversary for the Capitol. To honor this anniversary, twice the amount of district children are reaped for the games with a total of 48 children, ages ranging from 12 to 18. 

Haymitch is one of four taken from District 12, along with his 13-year-old neighbor Louella McCoy, local odds-maker Wyatt Callow and the meanest girl in town, Maysilee Donner.

I went into this book thinking I knew Haymitch’s story. I read the previous trilogy religiously as a child, and then reread it during the pandemic. I thought the beats of his story would be familiar — he gets reaped, he wins the games and he is punished for his insubordination. 

However, Haymitch’s narration revealed the true story of his games. Simply put, the rebellion had been quietly at work long before Katniss Everdeen was born, starting with Haymitch’s game. 

For casual or new readers, I imagine the references to the previous novels feel heavy-handed. Without going into spoilers, many characters present in the original trilogy take on new roles in the novel. But as a fan, I enjoyed seeing familiar faces and watching relationships develop. 

However, my only real criticism or precaution for curious readers is to avoid the Audible audiobook. 

To write this review, I chose to listen to the 12-hour-long narration by Jefferson White, which at certain points became increasingly clear that it is a 30-something-year-old actor trying to sound like a teenager. 

Haymitch’s inner monologue reflects his sarcastic and snarky personality. The voice of a significantly older narrator’s attempt to match this sardonic nature felt uncanny. By no means did White do a poor job of narrating, but personally, I would recommend reading over listening to this novel as I was hyper-aware of his voice. 

That being said, I loved this novel. 

Suzanne Collins is a renowned author for good reason. Her ability to capture a character’s thought process and inner dialogue cannot be overstated. Collins is able to shift from the perspective of an impoverished girl from the poorest district in the nation to the power-hungry future president at the beginning of his career, then to a fan-favorite character in his youth before he is traumatized with ease. 

Collins seamlessly moves between familiar characters, good and evil, while making readers think about their previous understanding of them through a new perspective. 

Throughout 400 pages, Haymitch’s story never felt unjustified. We see him progress into the character we met in the Hunger Games trilogy while learning more about the history of Panem. 

Returning to a beloved world for the prequel, years after its original publication, while remaining an engaging and new take is not always a success. But I have found that Colins only writes when she has something to say about our society. 

Themes of media propaganda and revisionist history were in front of my mind while listening. It seems every day a new book is banned or a history page is archived. I felt my anxiety at this reflected in the book, as it becomes increasingly clear that what we knew about the second quarter quell is far from the true events Haymitch experienced. 

I think this novel is as relevant today as “The Hunger Games” was when it was released, and I cannot help but wonder where Collins will go next.