Book Review: Sunrise on the Reaping

This is a newly released title as part of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. It is a prequel, so I’d like to begin by giving my opinion of the series in general before I begin this review, just in case you have never read them and are unsure about it. My review will be in the style of the website PluggedIn. If you haven’t used it before, it is a Christian review site for books, movies and more. So keep that in mind if you are a newcomer to my blog!

image courtesy of goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214331246-sunrise-on-the-reaping

If you were ever required to read Lord of the Flies for school (most of us were), then you will understand the bigger themes behind The Hunger Games. They have very similar themes/deeper meanings. Both show violence and deaths, and it is portrayed through children. I have read interviews from both authors, and both said they wrote them for similar reasons. Both were inspired (not necessarily in a great way) to write these stories because they were exposed to war in some way. The author of Lord of the Flies said he saw the worst of people come out in war, and that he realized apart from God, men were evil, no matter their age. In other words, you won’t “grow out of” a wicked nature, you need God to change you. Suzanne Collin’s father fought in a war, and he suffered from it, and she saw the effect is has on people. It also inspired her series because when she asked herself the question “what would make people willing to go fight a brutal war”, her answer was, if someone threatens their children. I’m paraphrasing both responses, but you get the idea.

I say all that to help the reader understand this: The Hunger Games series was written with a lot of deeper meanings and themes behind the violence. She wrote the characters in the Capitol (their dystopian government/wealthy and elite citizens) to be outlandish, ignorant of the common man, and obsessed with entertainment. Is that not what we see already with celebrities and influencers? Spending thousands of dollars on clothing and parties while other people are starving and suffering? You can even look to history to see that. When the first book came out, some argued that it was totally unrealistic that people would gather people together to fight to the death in an arena. But that is exactly what the gladiators did hundreds of years ago. People gathered in arenas to watch people fight bloody battles to the death, for entertainments sake. It has already happened. My point is, when you pick up these books, you’ve got to into it understanding that the author was making some serious points, not just writing an entertaining, scary story.

Now it is time for the actual book review! If you’ve never read the other books, this is the main plot: the common people tried to rise up against the Capitol, fought in a war, and lost it. To punish them, the Capitol gathers their children up once a year to go fight in an arena, and there can only be one victor. It is done to keep the people under their rule, and never try to rebel again. But one girl named Katniss changed all of that and led the people in a successful rebellion, to finally end the Hunger Games. But she needed help. She got some from her mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch was a victor. He already won his Hunger Games many years ago. By the time Katniss meets him, he is an alcoholic. Always drunk, always mean. But as Katniss gets to know him, she pulls him out of that. He helps her not only win her Games, but lead the uprising. While Haymitch redeems himself in the original series, Sunrise on the Reaping gives us his backstory. We see how he goes from a hopeful teen, to a hopeless drunk.

Sunrise on the Reaping follows the original book very closely. The plot is similar, we get cameos from a lot of other characters as well, and the themes are the same. Haymitch is unfairly chosen to go fight in the Games, in an attempt to save someone he loves. Once he gets to the Capitol for training, his instincts are to protect the helpless, not become a ruthless murderer. Even though he knows only one will be left standing, he can’t bring himself to harm others for the sake of winning. So he gets another idea: end the Games for good. He discovers there is a secret alliance with the same plan, and they let Haymitch in on it. He figures he won’t survive anyway, so why not go down fighting? But the reader already knows Haymitch is going to survive. So what in the world is going to go wrong?

Haymitch seemed very likeable in the opening chapters. He didn’t drink at all, wasn’t mean, and was in love. So I knew whatever was coming was going to be pretty bad to change him so drastically. I had quite a lot of predictions, but they were incorrect. The way the author showed us how he fell so far was very good. I expected he would have to betray himself and his comrades to become to hopeless, but what actually happened was just as bad. His story isn’t only about trying to win the Games because he wants to live, but he tried to do what Katniss did, and failed. And when the Capitol was finished with him, he was totally broken. No chance of ever standing up to them again. Or so they thought.

This book was not without its problems for me. I cannot remember any foul language in any other the others books in the series, not one word. Yet in this story for some reason, the author introduced some language. It is unnecessary for a few reasons, and I wish she would have left it out. Anyone who is a regular reader of my blog knows, I do not like cursing in books, especially for young readers. That is my preference; and if it wasn’t in the series before, I don’t see why there was a need to put it in now. There was also one death in particular that pushed the boundaries for me. I understand the author has deeper messages behind what the characters do, but it felt too graphic for me. It was toward the end of the games; I won’t spoil the plot if you are a big fan and want to read it, but be aware. I don’t think it will bother adults as much (most of the original fans are adults now), but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to younger readers for this reason.

I will also mention though, this was the first book in her series where she has mentioned anything alluding to Christianity. Haymitch mentions that he has been told about Heaven multiple times, and he hopes that is where he will go when he dies. While no one specifically talks about Jesus or the Bible, this is the first time in this dystopian world that someone has hope beyond death, because of Christ. This idea could have been explored much further, but the author chose not to. It could have added even more to the story, because the Capitol doesn’t want anyone to have hope, and would absolutely try to keep anyone from knowing about Heaven or the Bible. It would have made an interesting plot, but I am glad this hope of Heaven was included. My biggest issue with book 3 in the original trilogy was this lack of hope. The main character (Katniss) is in such despair that she gives up completely and has no hope of ever living a normal, happy life. Even after marrying and having children, she is never the same and doesn’t ever get all of her hope and happiness back. I didn’t like that ending. We know we always have hope! So I am glad this idea was brought into this story. Hopelessness will drive you to despair, and even though Haymitch ends up there temporarily, he comes out of it when he meets Katniss.

This prequel was written for the sole purpose of giving us a main character’s back story. So the themes and deeper meanings are not new. The plot is not original and the characters are recognized from previous books. It is for fans of the original series, to give

them a glimpse into who Haymitch was before the Capitol tried to destroy him. In the end, it makes him more likeable. Some reviewers are mad about this. They want a new story, new characters, and a new plot. But most readers don’t want that. Most avid fans want the backstories and the peek into the past, before Katniss. And this book delivers that. Do I highly recommend it? No, I wouldn’t say so. I don’t recommend it for the younger end of the target audience (12 to 14), and I wouldn’t recommend it for newcomers to the series. You’d need to read the original first. But I would recommend it for fans who have been around since the first book was released, the adults who are fans and miss the characters and this genre. That’s who it is written for. I did not read the series when they first came out, I actually read them as an adult. It is a heavy series, and even though it was Young Adult, I could see it falling into the newer genre out now of New Adult (ages 19-25). I’m glad I read them as adult because I was more mature and could recognize her meanings behind the series. I will leave it up to you, as the reader, if you want to give it a chance. I feel I’ve given you enough information to make the decision. So, no matter your choice, read or pass, as always, happy reading!