Suzanne Collins did it again with a new perspective in the Hunger Games novels that will make you want to return to the world again and again.
By: Gianna Liantonio and Skylar Lou Pointer
Suzanne Collins recently released her newest addition to the Hunger Games series, Sunrise on the Reaping, a story entailing the story of Haymitch Abernathy, the drunk District 12 mentor from the original trilogy.
When we first met Haymitch in the original trilogy, the main protagonist Katniss Everdeen viewed him as a reclusive drunk embarrassment to District 12. As the trilogy continues, book to book, he proves himself to understand our teenage protagonist on a deeper level than we could explain in the books. However, this book lets us inside his mind to see how she can connect with her.
The book starts similarly to the first Hunger Games novel, where it is the morning of the reaping, and everyone is terrified that this will be the year they get picked. Haymitch does his morning chores while checking on Sid, his younger brother. Here, we see a parallel to Katniss and her younger sister Primrose, where both Katniss and Haymitch will do whatever it takes to protect them.
We meet Haymitch’s best friend, Burdock Everdeen, who is Katniss’ father, establishing the first connection Haymitch and Katniss have. We then meet Lenore Dove, Haymitch’s feisty girlfriend, who tends to get into trouble.
I enjoyed seeing the reaping through sixteen year old Haymitch’s eyes and his development throughout the book. We see how he used to be before the games changed him and how he became the alcoholic, grumpy mentor Katniss and Peeta met. The day Haymitch got reaped was the 50th annual Hunger Games which was also the Quarter Quell. Every ten years, instead of one boy and one girl from each district, they pick two girls and two boys. The other three that got picked were Maisilee Donner, Wyatt, and Louella.
They get sent to the capitol to prepare for the games. We see them go through makeovers, media training and training for the arena. They have to form their allies so they know who could help them during the games. Haymitch meets Ampert, an eleven year old boy who is intelligent and clever. He is Beetee’s son who we first met in Catching Fire. Immediately, I saw a parallel of when Katniss meets Rue and forms an alliance with her. Both Haymitch and Katniss felt a sense of protection for them because they reminded them of their siblings.
There were even more similarities between the two. It was clear throughout the novel that Katniss and Haymitch are meant to be parallels of each other. In the same way, Katniss has a close relationship with Prim; Haymitch has one with his own younger brother, Sid. Katniss got the highest score ever in training (11), while Haymitch got the lowest (1). Collins beautifully sets this up in the novel for readers who have read the original trilogy, or seen the movies and can see the similarities between them.
Similarly to how we see Beetee from Catching Fire and Mockingjay, we also see Mags and Wiress. Some videos I have seen online have suggested that putting all of these names in the book felt like a cash grab, however, I would have to disagree. The way we see these former Hunger Games victors in the book is essential not only for the world-building, but also for their characters in the original trilogy. Beetee was mentioned to help with a rebellious action Haymitch would make in the book, and to set up that Beetee was rebellious in the past (hence why his son is in the games). Mags and Wiress were there because they were Haymitch’s mentors. They were chosen because they were being punished.
Suzanne Collins writes with purpose, deliberately including characters and details that made me look at the original trilogy differently. Haymitch knows firsthand what it is like to lose everything, which explains why he berated Katniss constantly for when she unknowingly said or did something that Snow would not like. On the other hand, he beamed with pride when Katniss would go against the people in the Capitol such as when she shot her arrow in the first book and Haymitch told her that was the right move.
Along with other familiar characters, Haymitch meets Effie Trinket, who decides to take over when their stylist decides not to show up. Similar to how Cinna ensured Katniss and Peeta looked their best, Effie knew she could not send them out with the same clothes they wore every year. I liked that we saw how Effie and Haymitch met prior to the first book, and how their relationship developed through the years.
During the games, Haymitch decides to run off on his own due to his fears that his allies will not get good treatment if they are seen with him.
Even though you can probably guess the outcome of the other tributes, Collins’ writing gets us attached to them just like the original trilogy. For example, the aforementioned Ampert. Not only is he an ally to Haymitch, but he is also the beloved son of Beetee, a character many of the fans have grown to know. So reading his sealed fate was upsetting not only for those base-level reasons, but because Collins can write these reasons with such detail. With lines like, “Somewhere, Beetee’s heart breaks into fragments so small it can never be repaired.” (page 252), you can’t help but for your heart to break as well.
Everything in this book is done in such descriptive detail so that the reader is able to perfectly picture what Collins was thinking. Even Haymitch’s point of view seemed so natural and in character throughout the whole novel. She did an excellent job with this book, and if she comes out with more, I will be jumping into my nearest bookstore to grab a copy. You can truly see with her Hunger Games novels that she has her message planned out to a T. My rating for Sunrise on the Reaping is 5 out of 5 stars. If you have not grabbed this book yet, go get it! You will not regret it.
