Book Review: Sunrise on the Reaping
Title: Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger games #5)
Author: Suzanne Collins
What’s it About?
Sunrise on the Reaping takes place, chronologically, between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Hunger Games. This is the story of how young Haymitch
finds himself as a tribute in the quarter quell Hunger Games 24 years before we meet Katniss and Peeta. Do to a series of unfortunate events, Haymitch finds himself one of four tributes to the games in which he must survive not twenty-three other tributes, but forty-nine.
My Favorite…
Favorite Character: Haymitch is my favorite. I’ve liked Haymitch since pretty early on in the series, but I just liked him more the more I got to know him. Now I just love him! I know he’s a drunk and he comes off as harsh and careless with Katniss and Peeta, but there’s so much under the rough exterior. It’s no surprise that he’s a drunk, it’s his form of self medicating; of coping with everything he’s done and seen, which is a struggle that all surviving tributes struggle with. Some use alcohol, others drugs to medicate their way through life. Others use fame and popularity and others find a way to fight. Either way, they’re all finding a way to make it through.
Least Favorite Character: I’m sure this will come as no surprise, especially if you listened to our Hunger Games edition to Saturday Night In, but Snow is my least favorite. I hate him with a passion. There’s no justification, no forgiveness. He just makes me sick and he’s a horrible person.
Favorite Part: My favorite part of this book isn’t a scene. It’s the glimpses of the people we know from all of the other books. It’s seeing how so many people got to where they where when we first met them, from Effie, to Katniss’s parents; from the Baird family to Hevensbee. Getting to see where everyone started and how they ended up where they were was not just enlightening, it was fun.
Least Favorite Part: The hard thing about the Hunger Games series is the violence. There’s so much hate and cruelty everywhere you look. It can be hard to stomach. There were a couple scenes in Sunrise on the Reaping where scenes in which some heart breaking act of violence and/or hate occurred and, as a consequence of someone’s actions someone else either loses their life or ends up severely hurt.
Favorite Quotes:
“A truth told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.” -William Blake
“ First avoid the slaughter,
Get weapons, look for water
Find food and where to sleep.
Fire and friends can keep.” (Pg. 98)
“A world of words to wrap herself up in. Each book’s as precious as a person, she says, as it preserves someone’s thoughts and feelings long after they’re gone.” pg. 121
“I love you like all-fire. That’s for always.” (pg. 195)
“I didn’t want to let them in, her and Peeta, but the walls of a person’s heart are not impregnable, not if they have known love.” (Pg.381)
Other Thoughts:
I have a….rocky…relationship with The Hunger Games series. When I read the first three books, I didn’t read many books like it. The dystopian craze hadn’t hit and something so dark and angry wasn’t exactly what I was drawn to. But someone I trusted told me I had to read it and, so, I did. I didn’t like it much at all until I had completed the three that were out at the time and then, while I didn’t particularly like it, I appreciated it. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was was my least favorite for sure because, well, it’s all Snow all of the time. But I was super excited to read Haymitch’s story, though I was sure I’d be disappointed. As it turns out, I was wrong. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, Sunrise on the Reaping quickly became my favorite Hunger Games books.
In a world where in order to belong, there has to be violence and hate, Sunrise on the Reaping had less violence then the other books, which I think, is one of the reasons it’s my favorite. I never did love all of the violence and needless deaths.
Now, after that confession, I think it’s only fair that I’m honest. This book did make me mad. It made me cry, too. There are really hard part for me to get through. Even without as much in your face bloodshed, it’s not a sunshine and rainbows book. It can’t be. It’s a part of The Hunger Games.
When I went through Panam this time, I read them in the order that the books were released. That’s not a bad way to read them. I think having the knowledge from the original Hunger Games trilogy enhances the experience of the other two. But I will say this, too, I think the next time I read through the series, I’m going to read it through in chronological order to change up the experience and see how the experienced changes doing it this way.
I think this is a great addition to the Hunger Games. I’m glad I was lucky enough to get a copy shortly after it came out.
My Ratings:
I give this book a
6.5
out of
10 Tributes
But that’s just what I think. What do you think? Did this book change your opinion of Haymitch? Did you enjoy this book? Did you hate it? Let us know in the comments.
