You don't pick up a Suzanne Collins novel expecting a happy ending, but Sunrise on the Reaping completely and utterly shattered me in a way no other book has before. I went in braced for a brutal tragedy—it's a Hunger Games prequel, after all—but what I wasn't prepared for was how profoundly it would move me.
Sunrise on the Reaping is, without a doubt, the most beautifully tragic book I've ever read. When I finished reading it for the first time back in March 2025, I spent about a full hour sobbing. I wish I were exaggerating, but that's how much this story hurt, and how deeply it moved me. I honestly don't think I'll ever recover.
I've been into The Hunger Games series since the first book debuted in 2008, and I knew Haymitch had to have a tragic backstory, so I thought I was at least a little bit prepared for what would unfold in this novel. Boy, was I wrong, though. No amount of preparation could have softened the blow of this story—and yet, it's this very devastation that makes it one of the best books I've ever read.
Sunrise on the Reaping tells Haymitch Abernathy's story, set 24 years before the events of the first The Hunger Games book. Even if you're only lightly familiar with this series, you probably know Haymitch—he’s one of the most unforgettable characters. When we first meet him in the later series, he's drunk, abrasive, sarcastic, and full of bitterness. But as the series progresses, we glimpse the broken man beneath the bravado. We always knew he’d been through hell, we just didn’t know the full extent—until now.
Haymitch's story begins with instant tragedy, as on his 16th birthday, he avoids being called in the Reaping, only to be forced into the Games anyway after one of the chosen tributes tries to escape and is killed. In the aftermath, his girlfriend, Lenore Dove, steps in to comfort the victim's grieving mother. When Haymitch intervenes to protect Lenore from the Peacekeepers, he's illegally reaped in the place of the fallen tribute.
The version of the games Haymitch is playing is the Quarter Quell, which means there are twice as many tributes sentenced to death in the arena, making for 48 children sentenced to this fate, and only one who makes it out alive. We know that survivor is Haymitch, but knowing the outcome doesn’t soften the blow. The deaths of the other 47 tributes still land with devastating weight.
My favorite novel from this series before reading this one was Catching Fire, and Sunrise on the Reaping is a spiritual predecessor to it in every way. Without giving too much away, you learn far more about characters from the original trilogy than you might expect, and you'll never see those books or films the same way again. Everything Haymitch does and says has a whole new meaning after reading this, and he's not the only one.
Like the tributes in Catching Fire, Haymitch finds himself at the heart of a plot to sabotage the arena. This was a twist I didn't see coming, and one I knew wouldn't end well, seeing as the games went on for many years after. Still, I couldn’t help but hope things would somehow turn out differently than they were fated to. Even knowing how it ends, I found myself rooting for Haymitch and the others every step of the way.
The beauty of this novel is that, yeah, you know it's gotta end badly and that Haymitch is going to experience some truly traumatizing stuff, but you have no idea how it all unfolds until you're deep in it. You know Haymitch is going to end up a belligerent drunkard, despite his repeated insistence that he doesn't drink throughout this book, but you'll never predict what gets him there.
Like every book in this series, Sunrise on the Reaping delivers powerful, timely messages and political commentary woven seamlessly throughout the narrative. It's also got some surprisingly fun literary references, like the recurring use of the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe, which is hauntingly tied to both Haymitch and his lover, Lenore Dove.
Just when you think you've witnessed the worst this story has to offer, it hits you with another gut punch. This cycle continues right up to the final pages, where you're met with perhaps the most devastating blow of all. If you ever think you're having a bad day, remember: Haymitch Abernathy is having a far, far worse one.
If you've only ever read the main trilogy, I can't recommend delving back into the larger world of The Hunger Games enough. Start with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which provides chilling depth to President Snow's backstory, then enjoy Sunrise on the Reaping, a devastating companion that ties it all together in ways you won't see coming.
I was so skeptical of expanding the world of Panem beyond the main books, but both of these reads are every bit as powerful as the original trilogy, and maybe even a bit more haunting. Haymitch's fate was sealed long before this book began, yet Sunrise on the Reaping still makes you love, hurt, and grieve— holding on to hope that things might turn out differently, even when you know the story was always meant to break you.
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