- The Good: Back in the arena and inside Haymitch Abernathy’s head
- The Bad: Falls prey to many of the modern prequel requirements
- The Literary: Songs and poems and The Raven
Sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy lives an impoverished but happy life in District 12. He goes to school and works part-time helping the town’s bootlegger to bring home money for his widowed mother and his naive, idealistic younger brother. He’s also got a girl, Lenore Dove of the Coveys, whom he meets regularly in the woods to while away the long summer days.
The Hunger Games prequels continue, this time with Haymitch’s origin story, set twenty-four years before the first book. Honestly, I put off reading this book off for some time. I didn’t want to sully my original love of this series with after-market cash grabs. But Collins delivers again, despite all the natural pitfalls of modern prequels.
I don’t want to spoil too much of this book, but you already know that Haymitch is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games. For the 50th anniversary of the games — referred to as the Second Quarter Quell — Haymitch is one of four District 12 tributes. The other three are Maysilee Donner, a spoiled haughty twin and the original owner of Katniss’ mockinjay pin, Wyatt Callow, a large quiet boy whose family makes a living by gambling on the Hunger Games, and Louella McCoy, a small girl whose chances of survival are so narrow that Haymitch can’t help but try and protect her.
As with the entire series, the themes focus on political manipulation, the uneven distribution of resources between the upper and lower districts, and a highly complex caste system in a totalitarian regime. Haymitch explores ideas of why the majority submits willingly to the few, both within himself and in conversation with others. In addition, there’s the theme of using of propaganda as power, and in this installment there is a specific focus on how the narratives of the media not only distort, but change the truth to fit a story.
You’ll see a lot of familiar faces here, as is required for prequels, including Effie Trinket, Coriolanus Snow, Plutarch Heavensbee, Caesar Flickerman, Mags, Wiress, and Beetee. I don’t think they all needed to appear, as it narrows the world, making it feel too small. But alas, I’m sure the publishers required it. I almost wish Collins had broken the mold with this one and written about Haymitch having to mentor the District 12 tributes year after year as they fight in Hunger Games instead of focusing on his own experience in the games, but she follows the original formula.
Despite the small-world syndrome, Sunrise on the Reaping does what it sets out to do. It wrenches you back into the world of The Hunger Games. Though you know what happens in the arena, and you already know Haymitch as a broken adult through the eyes of Katniss, you can’t help but get swept up in the emotional rollercoaster. This is a powerfully heartbreaking book with characters that you love against impossible odds, and I highly recommend it as a followup to the original trilogy.