The Hunger Games Legacy Continued: Sunrise on the Reaping

It’s finally here: the infamous story of the Quarter Quell and Haymitch Abernathy’s origins as the winner of the 50th annual Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins’ newest edition to the Hunger Games universe, Sunrise on the Reaping, was just released on March 18, 2025.

Though her books are often overshadowed by their film adaptations, Suzanne Collins is the author of The Hunger Games: a dystopian trilogy that follows the story of young tribute Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games are set in a future U.S., known in the novel as Panem. The annual games involve two children selected at random from each district, a boy and a girl, to participate in a televised fight to the death for the entertainment of the wealthy population of the Capitol. The original timeline surrounds the story of Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers for the 74th annual games to save her 12-year-old sister Primrose Everdeen, who has been selected to participate. Katniss must then take part in a fight to the death against twenty-three other tributes: children and young adults ranging from 12 to 18 years old. The only help Katniss has is that of her partner, Peeta, and that of her alcoholic (but strategic) mentor, Haymitch Abernathy. 

Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 24 years before the original timeline and is a reader’s first insight into the mysterious mind of Haymitch Abernathy. It’s our chance to understand why he became an alcoholic in the first place, and an opportunity to learn more about his personal history. Sunrise on the Reaping answers the following question: who is Haymitch?

Haymitch Abernathy, The Hunger Games.

At the beginning of the series, we first see Haymitch as a drunk, blonde, middle-aged man. We know he’s the only surviving winner of the Hunger Games from District 12, but, other than that, we’re pretty much kept in the dark about his true character. Later on, though, Collins develops Haymitch’s character in a way that makes him seem reliable, and much more intelligent than we had previously given him credit for. Originally, a reader gets the surface-level understanding that since he’s had so many previous mentees die in the games, now he just wants to be constantly incapacitated. He doesn’t really want to be present, and, after all, his tributes eventually end up dying like all the others before them. Luckily, his apathy dissipates soon enough when Katniss performs in a way that gives Haymitch adequate reason to believe that there’s a chance she might win the games and survive. After that point, Haymitch flicks on like a light switch. Soon, he becomes a key player in keeping Katniss and Peeta alive even after their first games, as well as an ally to the rebellion against the Capitol. 

So what can we expect from this new story? The novel focuses on 16-year-old Haymitch and how he gets selected for the second Quarter Quell (Q.Q.), a special Hunger Games that happens once every 25 years, where an additional challenge is chosen at random. This specific Hunger Games is special, though. Instead of the regular one boy and one girl, they double the number of participants for the 50-year special, meaning two boys and two girls from each district. This new dynamic heightens the tension between the tributes and the stakes for each player. Haymitch, whose birthday is unfortunately on reaping day, is just trying to get by when his name is called and his life changes forever. In a quote from an interview mentioned in an ENews article, Collins states, “There’s far more color to his expression, more humor.” She goes on to state: “Sadly, at the end of the book you see his concentrated effort to strip all that away, so by the time you reach the trilogy, his language has lost the musicality of his youth. A combination of his desperation to forget combined with years of Capitol TV erase it.” Haymitch faces the challenges the game makers throw at him, who don’t want a boy from District 12 to win, but something sparks within him: a need to survive, an urge to not only fight for his life, but to also fight against everything these Games and the Capitol stand for. It looks like we can expect to see a coming-of-age and a loss-of-innocence novel, probably one with more than enough heartbreak.

 In Mockingjay, readers get a glimpse at Haymitch’s win after Katniss and Peeta discover tapes of previous Hunger Games. Later on, Haymitch discloses the price he paid for his victory: “My mother and younger brother. My girl, [...] They were all dead two weeks after I was crowned victor. Because of that stunt I pulled with the force field. Snow had no one to use against me.” Like Johanna, like Finnick, like Peeta, and like Katniss, it seems that President Snow has figured out a way to hit Haymitch where it’ll hurt most for his “stunt” performed in the Q.Q. 

With Sunrise on the Reaping, readers will be able to get a look into the mind of the cunning Haymitch Abernathy. An enticing story set in the relentless arena filled with physical and psychological battles - a fight to the death where only the Capitol ever truly wins. Looks like Suzanne Collins has once again given us a novel where we will leave tear stains on the pages of our books. Sunrise on the Reaping is currently available at most bookstores near you as well as online. Lionsgate has already confirmed a movie adaptation of the novel, set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026.

Collins, Suzanne, Sunrise on the Reaping.

Sources:

Kirby, Megan. “Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping Is Here: What to Know Before Returning to the World of Panem.” 

https://www.eonline.com/news/1414941/sunrise-on-the-reaping-what-to-know-abo ut-hunger-games. ENews, 19 Mar. 2025. 

Suzanne, Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sunrise-on-the-reaping-suzanne-collins/11457038