Review Detail

Sunrise on the Reaping is exactly what we need to know about Haymitch Abernathy’s life before The Hunger Games trilogy portrays him as a drunk, bitter mentor to Katniss and Peeta. I love the references to the events of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by having Haymitch’s love be a member of the Covey. Plus, the foundation of the rebellion and the background of so many pivotal characters in the trilogy are in this book. It is the perfect bridge.
Haymitch’s attempt at breaking the system and making the Capitol accountable leads to thought-provoking parallels to our system of the powerful and the oppressed. There is a heavy focus on propaganda and the brainwashed masses who believe without question what they are told. Even if they watched it with their own eyes, when the recap is different, what is spread becomes the truth. The media shapes the truth, and Haymitch finds himself unable to break away from the narrative.
Haymitch's story is heartbreak after heartbreak, starting with the fact that he was never meant to be in the games. Reaping day is on his birthday, making each year a special torture just for him. Haymitch is willing to love and protect, and that is turned against him over and over. He defies the President’s wishes by surviving, meaning his punishments never stop, which sets him up as we know him in the trilogy.
I love that this book could be read in two different ways, and the journey would be different for each reader. If you have read the trilogy, then this book holds a special dread as you know that at every turn it has to end a certain way to bring you to the events you know. However, younger readers could start with Ballad of Songbird and Snakes, then this book, and be filled with hope that he will succeed.
I listened to this book as an audiobook and was impressed with how closely the narrator sounds to Woody Harrelson’s iconic portrayal of Haymitch in the movies. His voice gives a contemplative tone to the unfolding events and a certain inevitability. The return to the district and the events to break him were conveyed in a stellar way by the mad rambling tone the narrator gave to the text.
Overall, this is a stellar addition to the Hunger Games world, and I can’t wait for the movie to come out.