This review may contain minor spoilers.
Suzanne Collins came out with another installment of the acclaimed Hunger Games series with “Sunrise on the Reaping” on March 18, 2025. Within the first few weeks of its release, it has already garnered widespread love from Hunger Games fans, with over 200,000 reviews on Goodreads and 20,000 on Amazon.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” is a prequel book following Haymitch Abernathy in the 50th Hunger Games or 2nd Quarter Quell. This Quarter Quell selects double the amount of tributes, forcing Haymitch to fight against 47 others to the death. In the original trilogy, Haymitch was the only surviving District 12 victor, mentoring our protagonist Katniss Everdeen and her companion Peeta Mellark.
I have read all of the Hunger Games trilogy and really enjoyed this book. It has everything you want from a book: complex themes that tie into the real world, thrilling action, compelling characters and callbacks to the original books. It is written in first-person and in a more bare style, meaning Collins refrains from using too much flowery language, making the book a smooth read.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” focuses a lot on propaganda and censorship. Like Katniss, Haymitch must control his actions and words because the Hunger Games is being broadcast. Every time something rebellious happens, the Capitol swiftly moves to cover it up, only letting the people see what the Capitol wants them to see.
For example, at the beginning of the book, the Reaping for selecting the tributes gets messy. One of the two selected male tributes starts a small uprising, resulting in his death. When Haymitch and his girlfriend, Lenore Dove, try to keep the Capitol from taking the tribute’s body, Haymitch is selected to be the replacement tribute.
Later, when Haymitch watches the video of the Reaping, he sees that the whole incident has been cut out, making it look as if the Reaping went by peacefully. The Capitol has done this to prevent the people of the Districts from questioning their power and to quench any hopes of rebelling.
Censorship is an ever-present problem today. With the list of banned books increasing—including “The Hunger Games”—and some countries strictly controlling their citizens’ access to media, it needed to be addressed. Collins skillfully weaves this theme throughout the whole book while not outwardly stating her intentions.
Collins also highlights the humanity in each tribute and the cost of their dehumanization by the Capitol. The tributes are viewed as mere entertainment for the Capitol because they are viewed through the screen, like a movie or TV show. However, they are actual people and children at that and their deaths are permanent and painful, not special effects.
Dehumanization is dangerous, as we have seen in history. People justify their cruel treatment of others by dehumanizing them, believing it is fine to be cruel to someone when that someone isn’t “human.” Society needs to ingrain this lesson in their head, and who better to do that than Suzanne Collins?
Collins is also masterful with her action scenes. When I read them, I felt like my heart was racing alongside the characters and constantly felt the anticipation of the next death. They had the stakes, realism and readability that a well-written action scene should have. She did not shy away from describing the injuries characters accrued from their fights, which gave the fights actual consequences and made sure the characters didn’t feel overpowered.
Something else that has always drawn me to the Hunger Games trilogy is the characters. Though there are so many tributes, Collins manages to give many of them personalities, motivations, backstories and other characteristics that serve to flesh them out. The four tributes from District 12: Haymitch, Wyatt Callow, Maysilee Donner and Louella McCoy are all likeable enough that you root for them and feel sad about their inevitable deaths.
Speaking of the inevitable, since this is a prequel to “The Hunger Games,” you basically know how it’s going to end. Haymitch will be Victor, and all these other characters must die. However, there are so many twists and turns and unexpected events in this book that ensure it does not bore readers.
The nostalgia factor is also a big part of why people have been drawn to “Sunrise on the Reaping.” People have always wanted to see Haymitch’s Hunger Games after it was hinted at in the original. Since it takes place in the generation before Katniss and Peeta, we also get mentions of their parents.
Many of the details Collins incorporates are also callbacks to the original. For example, we learn that Haymitch calls Katniss “sweetheart” in the original because she reminds him of Louella McCoy, who he had to protect as he now has to protect Katniss. We also see a young Haymitch refuse to drink multiple times, which is in stark contrast to him as an alcoholic adult.
Overall, while I don’t think it was as good as the original books, “Sunrise on the Reaping” is definitely a great read and addition to this series. The movie version will be released in U.S. theaters on Nov. 20, 2026, with the director of the original movies, and will be sure to wow audiences.
