Review by mercies - Sunrise on the Reaping

mercies 's review for:

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I REALLY 100% loved this book. Each character’s emotions and character traits were vivid and layered. I loved the humanity of Haymitch—how he was just average at most of his skillset, yet still carried the potential to overthrow the Capitol in the end. He wasn’t flashy or godlike, but you could feel the weight of every decision he made. That made him real.

Every character felt distinct and well-crafted. I couldn’t find any clichés or reused ideas. The rawness of the pain each character felt—and their reactions to death, both witnessing and experiencing it—was something I really appreciated. It wasn’t sanitized or overly poetic. It was gut-deep and honest.

Suzanne Collins also did an amazing job connecting this prequel to the rest of the series. She wove in plots and ties to the later books so seamlessly that it gave the entire Hunger Games saga more cohesion. Everything clicks now.

And Haymitch. Wow. I fully understand now why he drinks. His trauma feels so tangible, especially because he came from a relatively joyful, pain-free background. He had a loving girlfriend, a good family, and he still lost it all. Everything he loved was stripped away from him.
That made his suffering feel even sharper.

Before this, I saw him as a kind of inconsiderate, slightly useless mentor.
Now, I see him as a deeply nuanced man who’s been through unimaginable trauma and lives every day with guilt and shame—both from the Games and from what came after.
He’s not the strongest or smartest. But he’s human. He’s relatable. He’s tired. And somehow, that makes him one of the most compelling characters in the whole series.

I also oddly liked his writing style more than Katniss’s. Katniss, in comparison, feels more like a textbook rebel leader—even though she’s not that at all. Haymitch’s narration just hit different. It was less polished and more emotional. What truly shattered me was his mental downfall after losing his mother and brother—the only people he had left—and then unintentionally poisoning his girlfriend with those gumdrops. He didn’t know, it wasn’t really his fault... but the damage was done. Watching him spiral into sleeping syrup, then liquor, then stumbling around District 12 completely heartbroken—it was devastating.
You can feel how much it wrecked him. And you know it’s something no one could ever really recover from.

The message of this book? Snow always lands on top—but it only takes a bit of flame to burn it all down.
It reflects both the Capitol’s seemingly unshakable power and the quiet, smoldering potential for revolution. (Cough cough, looking at you, Katniss.)
What’s been sitting heaviest on me is how unfair it all was. Haymitch wasn’t even supposed to be in the Games.
He wasn’t supposed to win. He wasn’t supposed to survive—only to be forced to watch every person he cares about die, and then go on sending kids into the same nightmare over and over again.
His suffering is a reflection of how deeply broken and totalitarian Panem really is.

And that makes the revolution feel all the more necessary.

All in all—I loved this book. It’s absolutely going on my favorites list. 🔥

Content Warnings