Sunrise on the Reaping Review

I now know heartbreak….

By Natalie Valdez Aug 5, 2025

Suzanne Collins Will Be Getting My Therapy Bills 

Sunrise on the Reaping is the embodiment of blissful torture and cruel nostalgia, twelve year old me has resurrected and subsequently died once again at the hands of one Ms. Suzanne Collins. Haymitch Abernathy is perhaps my first fictional love (I can fix him, no I can) has been at the forefront of my mind for the better part of 12 years and having the answers to all my burning questions is both devastating and satisfying. 

Those of you unfamiliar with the story that is the “Hunger Games” which if that's the case at this point I am going to ask you to stop here and come back once you’ve finished all the books, Don’t worry I’ll wait. 

Our story starts like the others, the morning on reaping day. It is here we learn that not only is reaping day on July 4th but also the day of Haymitch’s birthday-hear that? That's the sound of my heart breaking. When this book was announced, I approached it with extreme caution—protective over the world that shaped so much of my early reading life. But the moment I opened it, I was instantly transported back to the summer of 2012, devouring the original trilogy under a blazing sun, hopelessly in love with a fictional character and the fire of rebellion.

Haymitch’s story doesn’t just add to the original series—it deepens it. It shows us the long, slow simmer that precedes revolution, the gritted teeth and the quiet resilience it takes to spark change. The original trilogy gave us a society standing up and shouting, enough is enough! But Sunrise on the Reaping is the slow bubbling beneath the surface—the quiet defiance, the small acts of resistance that build into something unstoppable. It’s a reminder that revolutions are never instant. They’re born of patience, persistence, and the belief that the world can be better, even when it’s at its darkest.

Reading it now, as an adult, I can’t help but feel its message land in a different way. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and frustration is often part of the process. But this story makes a promise: the sun will not always rise on the reaping. Sunrise on the Reaping made it very clear that revolution doesn’t happen within a day and that change is neverending but slow coming.