I read somewhere that even though we already know how Haymitch’s story ends (and several other characters as well) in Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins thanks to The Hunger Games trilogy, it doesn’t diminish the story one bit. And I agree. The book is still harrowing and heartbreaking, revealing backstories and answering questions from the trilogy. Obviously, we learn how Haymitch ends up the drunkard he is in The Hunger Games, but we also get some intel on other characters that will appear later in the trilogy. I won’t spoil it because that was half the fun, stumbling upon those characters! But suffice it to say that there are no “cameos”. Every appearance of a trilogy character is well justified in Sunrise on the Reaping and adds a depth of understanding to the trilogy.

It’s been almost a decade since I last read The Hunger Games, and even though there are many similarities between Haymitch and Katniss’ experiences in the games, and some of the writing about the capitol and the games themselves was technically repetitive, I couldn’t put the book down, even taking it with me to the gym and nearly falling off the stair stepper. I have one complaint. And maybe I need to revisit the trilogy and Snow’s prequel before I make a judgement, but my issue is with President Snow’s character. He is so consistently evil I find his character boring at times.

Overall, Suzanne Collins does a great job of driving an insane plot — frighteningly exaggerated but rooted in reality —forward with realistic characters. There’s nothing shallow about her characters and she uses them so expertly to tell her story.

Like the others, this book will stay with me. What did you think of it?

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