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ASIN: B0D6BRYLL1 ID #116014 |
Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games) (Rated: 13+)
Product Type: Kindle StoreReviewer: Brandiwynš¶  Review Rated: E | Amazon's Price: $ 18.99
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Summary of this Book... | ||
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to her blockbuster novel series, The Hunger Games. It's story of teenage Hamitch Abernathy, who was later mentor to Katniss Everdeen in the her own Hunger Games, and his victory in the second Quarter Quell Hunger games, 24 years before Katniss volunteered as tribute. Like Katniss, Haymitch was not drawn from the reaping. When one of the male tributes tries to escape and is killed, Haymitch is forced to take his place. Themes of government control, propaganda, psychological manipulation, and rebellion abound. Haymitch catches the eye of President Snow with his open defiance. Snow retaliates by threatening his love back home, Lenore Dove. During training in the week leading up to the Games, Hamitch helps engineer a collaboration between more than half of the twelve districts to gang up against the "careers" - tributes who have trained their whole lives to participate in the Games. In doing so, he discovers allies he didn't know he had - including the father (Betee) of another tribute (Ampert.). When his Games begin, he and Ampert enter the arena with a plan to sabotage it. Though the plan is somewhat successful, the Capitol edits what the viewers see of Haymitch's actions, hiding his overt rebellion. They also make good on Snow's promise to retaliate - when Haymitch arrives back home in District 12, a victor, his mother and brother have been murdered. Lenore is still alive, but Snow orchestrates it so that Haymitch must watch her die, apparently by his hand. | ||
I especially liked... | ||
I liked some of the symbolism Collins used in this tale. Colors, in particular, had a lot of meaning: black was unnoticed and unimportant; the purity of white (and the irony of President Snow's name); blood-red represented death. | ||
I didn't like... | ||
I didn't like the way Lenore died. I found it unbelievable. Earlier in the story, Haymitch acquired a bag of gumdrops, Lenore's favorite, which he then gave to his brother for safekeeping, so Hamitch might gift them to her upon his (unlikely) return. When he did in fact emerge victor, he arrived home, found the gumdrops, and hid them in the meadow as a surprise for Lenore. But when she discovered them, Haymitch notices too late that all the gumdrops are blood-red and correctly predicts they are poisonous when Lenore dies in front of him. I found the realized-too-late trope too convenient, because anyone can clearly see the difference between a bag of multicolored gumdrops and a bag of blood-red gumdrops at a glance. | ||
I recommend this Book because... | ||
I love a good dystopian drama, and like the original Hunger Games series, this prequel delivers. Collins doesn't hold back on the gruesome horrors these children experience in the arena. | ||
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Created Mar 12, 2026 at 1:30pm •
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