SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins’ fifth Hunger Games novel – a must read, even if you haven’t read any of the other books in the series.

Like the fourth novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, this is a prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy released by Scholastic Press in 2008. And while I enjoyed the first prequel, it didn’t quite ring true to the tenacity of the original series. It lacked pacing and depth. The story glossed over major areas of President Snow’s character development which could have been enticingly rich. And it left the reader with as many questions as answers.

Sunrise on the Reaping is much better aligned with the intensity of the original series. Set twenty-four years before Katniss Everdeen’s horrific Hunger Games, we follow the early life of her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy.

Hunger Games fans will note that Haymitch isn’t exactly lovable when we meet him in the later trilogy. And yet, Collins had me rooting for his younger self so intently I outwardly wept for the character in the second chapter of his prequel.

Some readers have complained that the violence in the arena is glossed over, and I for one am glad of that. We know the horror of the event: do we really need a repeat? There are enough gory moments for this fan. Thankfully, they are laced with the redemptive qualities of our protagonist, allowing one to hold out hope for humanity.

Collins’ ability to seamlessly weave in the future plots is to be commended. We meet characters we know from later books. We go to places Katniss visited both in District 12 and the capital of Panem. Even items like Katniss’s mockingjay pin make an appearance. It all ties together.

There have also been suggestions that it is too similar to Katniss’s tale. How could it not be? Every year there is a reaping in a depressed mining village. Someone’s child, lover, friend is stolen from them and sent to die. Yes, in that way, the story is redundant. But how it happens and how the characters react held me captive throughout. I couldn’t put it down.

suggests that while she knew how much Haymitch had lost in those early years, the particulars of who these people were and how their lives intertwined with his were developed for this novel. The fact that it feathers into later plotlines so cleanly is a talent. Congratulations, Suzanne Collins!

Can we learn more about Finnick Odair next, please?