Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games) Hardcover – March 18, 2025

Ok, we all knew this was gonna be sad but dang…poor Haymitch. 😭 💔 I will admit prequels aren’t usually my favorite (there’s no stakes - you already know what’s gonna happen) but Sunrise on the Reaping was done brilliantly. I really enjoyed seeing Haymitch before the games and learning more about him in general. Without spoiling anything I’ll just say this one has so many jaw dropping moments and much like THG I can’t stop thinking about it. 🤯😭The games itself were designed even cooler than I expected and were so interesting to learn about. My mind is still blown by how the game markers chose to make the arena look like a cozy springtime environment - it’s an entirely new level of cruelty. As a side note - I feel like you could read about every single game and they would be so drastically different that they would all be fascinating. (Did saying that just make me a Capitol sheep? 😳 Disclaimer for my sanity I do not support this.) Regardless the storytelling itself was great and I was hooked from the start (just like I was with THG).I loved the side characters in this one too - so much so that I was still rooting for so many of the other tributes to survive as well. Can’t every tribute be saved with some ☠️ berries? 🤣 I loved the relationships Haymitch makes and was surprised but loved seeing some of our old favorites in their younger days.“I love you like all-fire.” 💔

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the entire series, but this one really caught me. The story is excellent and I really connected with the characters. Highly recommended to anyone who liked the trilogy and Songbirds and Snakes.

First thing I'd want everyone to know? Excellent book! Read it!I'm not a fan of sequels. I cringe when I hear one is coming out; especially if it is a follow-up to a book or movie I REALLY enjoyed. I had the same reaction to the Hunger Games sequels when they were announced even though I have no doubts about the talents of Suzanne Collins. It would not have been the first franchise that went to the well too often, as the saying goes.The first sequel/prequel, BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES, was a good book, but not a favorite of mine. I had no empathy or a great deal of interest in how young Snow became what he was by the time of the original trilogy. The ugliness and brutality of the games' origins before their evolution to the pomp and pageantry of the later games was fascinating and unexpected. It was the final chapters and the epilogue when the characters eventually grabbed me the hardest.On the other hand, SUNRISE ON THE REAPING, earned my investment in the story and the characters from the start. Part of that was probably my existing empathy for the character of Haymitch. While avoiding spoilers, on a wide scale, the book made a beautiful bridge between the 10th games in THE BALLAD and the era of the 74th and 75th games of Mockingjay Trilogy. At a personal level, the tragedies of Haymitch's story were revealed. Haymitch's story gives the character so much more dimension; and some other characters we've met before.Readers will see the Haymitch of the Hunger Games trilogy in a slightly different, more painful light without retconning the character. Once again, the epilogue in SUNRISE added insights and heartfelt "Oh, Wow!" moments for me.The original characters will always be my favorites and the focus of the Hunger Games. SUNRISE ON THE REAPING is a fully actualized story that could stand on its own merit, but it just finds its own place in the series so perfectly, without creating inconsistencies (as we have seen with so many other prequels and sequels) or diminishing the central characters of the original trilogy that made the stories so popular in the first place. (Yeah, lookin' at you, Terminator)I hope the upcoming movie lives up to it.Highly recommended.

Wow! This book is so good I am still sitting here puzzled and not knowing what to say in my review! I am not a person that reviews books by retelling what the story is / giving away the story I tend to describe how I felt about the book. And right now, I am somewhat at a loss for words. That was just so well written. We all obviously know what happens with Haymitch in The Hunger Game books but reading how he became the person he is today and how things in the story happened before Katniss and Peeta ever came on the scene was just breathtakingly heartbreaking!It has been a few years since I have reread the books however, I have read all of them and as I was reading this one I was almost taking notes because character names were mentioned that seemed familiar to me and I want to go back and see what their characters were like later in the series. But truthfully, I understand his character so much better now and I have such sympathy for him. I could not put the book down. I purchased the Kindle version as well as the audible version and I tend to listen while I'm reading on my Kindle and the voice actor did an amazing job with the book. I'm glad I did that because I ended up staying up till 4:00 a.m. and then getting back up at 8:00 a.m. to finish the book because I could not put it down but my eyes were blurry so I just kept listening to the book. I think anybody that likes or loves this series will enjoy reading this book and having a glimpse into Haymitch's past. This is one of those books that I think will stick with me for a while! Highly highly recommend this book! And honestly, after reading the last book about President Snow and then how he was in this book is just so sad. He really screwed up so many people's lives!