Let's Talk About 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping'

I read The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping a few weeks ago, the fifth novel (and the second prequel) in Suzanne Collins’ book series, and now that casting has begun for the movie, it’s worth talking about. I will say this: I thought The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the best entry in the series since the original Hunger Games, largely because it offered great insights into the rougher early Games and explained how Coriolanus Snow became the ruthless overseer of Panem. It’s a testament to the story that, even knowing what he eventually becomes, Coriolanus Snow starts out as a sympathetic character… until he isn’t.

Sunrise on the Reaping follows the story of Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in The Hunger Games movies), and it’s set during the Second Quarter Quell, 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s story. The twist this time is that each district must send double the number of tributes—two boys and two girls.

Alas, like the second book, Reaping feels like a retread of The Hunger Games with a more tragic and less hopeful ending. They really pile on the misery in this one, and it’s easy to see why Haymitch becomes the barely functional alcoholic we meet later. The novel puts him through the emotional wringer. The only glimmer of hope it offers is a look at the man Plutarch Heavensbee will eventually become.

As for Haymitch? Spoilers. Like Katniss, he is not initially selected but is added to the Games after intervening when a tribute tries to escape and is killed. Also like Katniss, he tries to sacrifice himself to destroy the arena and end the Games once and for all. That attempt is ultimately thwarted, but after Haymitch wins, Snow punishes him for the sabotage by killing his entire family and poisoning the love of his life, Lenore Dove, who dies in his arms at the very moment he believes they’ve been reunited. It’s bleak AF, though Haymitch does make it his mission—in honor of Lenore—to one day destroy the Games so there is never another sunrise on the reaping.

The whole novel often feels designed to put the reader through the wringer, and because the events of The Hunger Games are already set, there’s little room for hope. The book might have worked better as the second entry in the series, providing context for Haymitch’s fight ahead of the second and third novels. But as a prequel, when we already know the outcome, it just feels like compounded misery.

It’s worth noting, however, that the film has found its Haymitch and Lenore, who will be played by Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak, respectively. Largely unknown in the States, Zada has a couple of major projects coming up (a Prime Video series and Zoe Kazan’s Netflix adaptation of East of Eden). Peak is known for Max’s Gossip Girl reboot and Hocus Pocus 2.