Book Review: Sunrise Of The Reaping

Written by: Ian Rogers

In the early 2010s, as dystopian fiction was at an all-time high, the Hunger Games franchise rose like a phoenix out of the hits and the misses that filled the genre. The trilogy's final book was released in 2010, with what seemed to be a perfect ending to Katniss’s story, yet the fans weren’t done with Panem, and neither was the author, Suzanne Collins. In 2020, she called for a renaissance for the Hunger Games as she released the prequel to President Snow's story, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, with the movie of the same title releasing in 2023. Now, she has released yet another story, following the 50th game of Haymitch Abernathy. 

At first glance, Collins's inability to let the franchise die may seem like a money grab, but it is quite the opposite. The fans continue to thrive and build their own stories from past books' hints. So Collins’s continuation of the narrative is rather an act of helping a fandom not die out. And she has done it right. Her books show a key pattern of a battle between the lies told in the Capitol versus the truth of what occurs, and her most recent installment, Sunrise of the Reaping, is a testament to that. What you might think you know about Panem proves to keep you on your toes in Haymitch’s story. There are returning characters, Effie, giving context to how she became the powerhouse she was in the movies. Additionally, although Haymitch can seem like a drunk clutz in the 2010s movies, this book justifies how he came to be that way. There is truly not a boring page in this book, which can’t be said for many I have read in the last year. I highly suggest making Sunrise Of The Reaping your first and foremost summer read.