Hi friends and welcome to the third installment of Fatigato’s Fiction Fix. As an avid reader, I’m always trying to broaden my lenses, reading across genres from fantasy and romance, to science fiction or thrillers, to find my next favorite read. I’m all for finding that comfort read, the one book that will make you cry your heart out, or one that’ll make you rethink and question the narrator themselves. For this week’s installment I’m going with the dystopian and science fiction novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, the newly released addition to The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. This post will include spoilers for the book.
While Suzanne Collins writing career technically began when she was working as a writer for children’s television, her fame in the literary world began with her debut series, The Underland Chronicles, which was a five part fantasy war series that gave her recognition as it landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List. This series was focused more towards children, which given her experience as a writer for children’s TV makes sense. After this series though, Collins promptly shifted into the dystopian genre with the release of The Hunger Games novel in 2008, which also landed on the Best Sellers List following its release and remained there for six years. The popularity of this series quickly prompted for the film adaptions to be created by Lionsgate, which starred Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.
Now, after years of holding the attention of the literary community for the way her series revolves around a futuristic society that resides in what was the continent of North America, though it’s been greatly changed due to war, Suzanne Collins has added to the series. She’s now giving us readers a glimpse into the hunger games from the perspective of Haymitch Abernathy during the second quarter quell where the number of tributes for the game has been doubled, making for an even bloodier and gruesome fight to the death.
It’s in this book that she beautifully intertwines the storylines of all of the district twelve victors of the hunger games, and we’re able to watch as the embers of rebellion were born through first Lucy Gray, and now Haymitch Abernathy. This correlation between the two sparks that allowed for Katniss to put an end to the games once and for all years later, is directly displayed through Haymitch’s lover, Lenore Dove. She’s a covey girl part of the previously nomadic group of musicians that are known for their musicality and free-spirited nature before they were rounded up and forced to remain within the boundaries of district twelve, who gave Haymitch an emblem of a “thin strip of metal, shaped like a C… The head of a snake hisses at the beak of a long-necked bird” (p. 12).
Throughout Collins’ novel, we’re shown familiar faces of both capital and district citizens alike; from Plutarch Heavensbee, Beetee, Wiress, Mags, and even a young Effie Trinket, we’re able to gain a broader understanding of all their pasts and see that even during the quarter quell, people wanted the games to be dismantled. I personally found that seeing more details into these characters’ lives made me want to reread the original series again, especially knowing that Wiress a victor from three and Mags a victor from district four were the mentors given to district twelve tributes since no surviving victor could mentor them from their own district. It was also then interesting to see the correlation to the original The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and how Wiress and Mags were two of the people she wanted to ally with for the third quarter quell, and at that point she hadn’t known that they were two tributes that Haymitch had relied on to survive his games.
There wasn’t a moment in Sunrise on the Reaping where I wasn’t thoroughly impressed by the literary power of Collins and her ability to create a prequel of a character we already have a preconception of and still surprise us again and again. In The Hunger Games, Haymitch was considered a drunk after winning his quarter quell, and yet in this new novel when he has newly turned sixteen he states after being given a bottle of white liquor that he “has to agree and, though I’m not a drinker myself, I’m glad to get the bottle” (p. 5). This statement being right at the start shocked me because up until now I’d only viewed Haymitch as a drinker, and seeing that his younger self wasn’t only proved that the trauma he endured both during the games and after had changed him, and we as the readers now get to experience the brutality of Coriolanus Snow and the capital again, except this time there’s no mistaking that President Snow is truly the villain.
This book has kept me on edge and I couldn’t put it down, it was so engaging and detailed, even when you wished you could forget the deaths that occurred here. It truly was one of my favorite reads so far this year, though I’m always partial to this series as it’s been a part of my life and shaped me as a reader since I was young. If you’re already a fan of the series, this is a great addition to read through as it really explores the idea of going against an unjust government and makes you wonder if in the end, was it all worth it? While I don’t know if I would deem this a comfort read due to the number of times my heart ached for the characters I had grown attached to, and knowing they were all just children born into a cruel world, it’s a remarkable read that I think many would enjoy. That’s all I’ll say for now though on Sunrise on the Reaping as I don’t want to spoil much from a new release. However, as always, I look forward to what the next book has in store.
Catherine Fatigato – Prose Editor, Layout Editor & Blogger: Catherine is a Senior at Lewis University majoring in English with a concentration in writing. She aspires to have a career within the publishing field once she completes her Bachelors degree. When she’s not in class she can be found reading one of the many books on her to-be-read list; with some of her favorite authors including, Gayle Forman, Rebecca Ross, and Jeneva Rose.