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Since the release of the fourth novel in the Hunger Games series, The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes, on November 17, 2023, readers have been itching for a fifth. The long awaited Sunrise on the Reaping was released on March 18, 2025, following victor Haymitch Abernathy in the 50th annual Hunger Games. Haymitch is freshly 16 years-old in the story and is forced to leave his mom, younger brother, and girlfriend when he goes into the games. It is so interesting to see the differences in the Hunger Games between the 10th, 50th and 74th games and how much has changed overtime from President Snow’s ruling. Throughout the novel, so many familiar characters make appearances and you can see how they end up in the positions they are in later on.

Before reading the book, I was expecting it to be a little redundant and unnecessary, but it was nothing like I imagined. It felt like everything that was mentioned in the book related to something else in the series, and I was able to put so many things together that previously were a mystery. Author Susan Collins is an amazing writer and everything she writes has a purpose. There is so much symbolism that connects to the other books especially with music and birds. The characters Collins wrote are so detailed and remind you of characters from the original, making you feel emotionally connected to them. The whole series is an emotional rollercoaster and so sad, but Sunrise on the Reaping may be the saddest one yet. There are a lot of brutal deaths and hardships that make you want to cry, but it is such an amazing and well written book.

Warning: Spoilers start here.

Characters:
The characters Susan Collins created for this book made me feel like I already knew them. Wyatt Callow, Maysilee Donner, and Louella McCoy: Haymitch’s fellow district 12 tributes are all so different and dynamic. Wyatt is the son of a booker boy who knows all of the stats on the games, Maysilee is a merchant daughter, and Louella is a sweet young girl, Haymitch’s sweetheart. Having to witness the girls’ deaths is heartbreaking, especially when Lou Lou, a body double, replaces the dead 13 year-old girl. We also meet and connect with Lenore Dove who is also ripped away from the hands of the capitol. Collins’ ability to create such dynamic characters and then rip them away because of the government’s, in the story, actions makes not only this book but all of the Hunger Games novels so meaningful.
Besides the new characters we meet, we also get to know so much more about characters we have already seen. We learn that Beetee was always a rebel and tried several times to stop the games. He was punished for this by his own son being reaped and him having to watch every step as a mentor. We also see Wiress and Mags as Haymitch’s mentors and learn that they were tortured for helping Haymitch try to break the arena. Effie Trinket also makes her debut as the district 12 stylist in the book and we see the origin of Effie and Haymitch’s relationship. Lastly, Burdock Everdeen and Asterid March, Katniss’s parents, are shown as Haymitch’s friends who he pushed away after his games in fear of losing everyone he loves.

Symbolism:
Many of the characters are symbolized by birds: Katniss the mockingjay, Primrose the duck, Rue the hummingbird, and Lucy Gray the songbird. The idea of characters being represented by birds continues in Sunrise on the Reaping with Haymitch being the raven, Lenore Dove being the dove, Lou Lou as a jabberjay (a government made bird that repeats messages), and district six being referred to as Haymitch’s doves. The symbol of birds returns after Haymitch becomes the victor when he is locked in a bird cage for the capital citizens to feed and gawk over him. Sunrise, part of the book’s title, is also a symbol in the novel. In the beginning of the story, Haymitch and Lenore Dove wish for the end of the reaping, but they feel powerless to stop it. During his games, Haymitch tries to make changes but is unsuccessful. At the end, as Lenore Dove is dying from poison, her final wish for Haymitch is to “stop the sun from rising on the reaping,” a metaphor for stopping the games and violence the capitol brings. In the epilogue, Haymitch was finally able to witness the end of the reapings and Hunger Games, fulfilling his true love’s final wish and symbolizing a new beginning.
The flint striker necklace Haymitch receives from Lenore Dove acts as a symbol for starting the fire of the rebellion. While he is unable to make much change, he sparks the fire that Katniss later grows into flames. He uses the fire starter to try to break the arena while breaking the rules of the games by sneaking in a tool, an act of rebellion in itself. Lastly, while not necessarily a symbol, the repetitiveness of the use of poison stood out to me. Snow’s weapon of choice is poison, and we continue to see this used in Sunrise on the Reaping several times, such as nature in the arena being poisoned and Haymitch almost dying because of it, as well as poison being the cause of Lenore Dove’s death. These situations relate back to the trilogy like Snow killing Seneca Crane with poison and Katniss recognizing nightlock as poisonous. Noticing these symbols made the story so much more meaningful and proves Collins as an amazing author. They not only make the story more complex but also add meaning to every aspect of the plot and characters.

Connections:
What made this book so amazing to me was all of the connections to other parts of the series that Collins made. Whether she had Haymitch’s games in mind while writing her other novels or came up with back stories to everything, the way she incorporated items, characters, and plot points was so impressive. Here are some of my noticeable mentions of these connections.
The mockingjay pin that Katniss brings as her token and acts as a symbol of the rebellion came from Maysillee, who Haymitch viewed as a sister. Haymitch calls Katniss sweetheart because she reminds him of Louelle. After the rebellion, Katniss and Peeta give Haymitch geese to raise because of Lenore Dove. Effie’s first line in Sunrise on the Reaping is “Today’s a big, big, big, day!” which she says several times in the original trilogy. Both Haymitch and Katniss are forced to go into the games by protecting a loved one. We also learn more about familial ties in District 12. Though nothing is stated explicitly, Lenore Dove seems to be Maude Ivory’s daughter, a cousin of Lucy Gray, and Burdock Everdeen is revealed to be the son of Barb Azure, another cousin, making Katniss blood related to the Covey and Lucy Gray, promoting Snow’s hatred for her. Collins does not make it easy to figure out these ties, but she gives hints when she describes the Covey gravestones.