On March 18, Suzanne Collins released a new book based on her Hunger Games series. Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel to The Hunger Games. The first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was released on May 19, 2020, and a film adaptation was also released by Lionsgate on November 17, 2023.
Sunrise on the reaping is based on the story of Haymitch Abernathy, a character in the original trilogy of The Hunger Games. In the original trilogy, Haymitch was the only mentor of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, as he was the only victor of District 12, still alive.
In the original trilogy, we see the 74th and 75th editions of the Hunger Games, but in the new novel, we see the 50th edition. As it is the second quarter quell, the games are going to be different. Instead of having 24 tributes, there will be twice the normal number, so 48 tributes in total.
Each year, on July 4th the capitol asks each district to draw the name of one girl and one boy between the age of 12 and 18. The boys and girls chosen to participate are named tributes.
Before entering the arena, all the tributes receive three days of training in a variety of skills. The training center’s gymnasium has many different training stations.
Every game is different, and each has a distinctive theme, but they all have something in common. They all have the Cornucopia, situated in the center of the arena. The cornucopia is where the tributes can get weapons, bags of food, and bags with things to survive, like medicine. The 50th arena is described as really beautiful but extremely deadly.
The film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping is planned to be released in theaters in 2026, and everyone is already excited about it.
I personnaly think that Sunrise on the Reaping is one of her best book. It adds a lot of details to the original story and we learn a lot more about the characters. For exemple, in The Hunger Games trilogy, we know Haymitch as a drunk man but in the new novel we discover why he became like that. Also, it offers new percpective on how propaganda works in this Dystopian society. Overall, this is a good read for anyone interested in the series.
