A Book Review of Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping
By Emma Harvey
Summary:
On June 6th, 2024, book lovers and sci-fi fans awoke to an exciting announcement: the upcoming release of a new book in the Hunger Games saga! Sunrise on the Reaping is the fifth book in the series, released five years after the previous installment, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Sunrise on the Reaping was released on March 18th and sold over 1.5 million copies during its first week, as reported by Scholastic. This far exceeds the publishing world’s 15,000 copy sale threshold that determines success. It’s also more than double the number of sales for the saga’s past two books, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Mockingjay, which both sold about half a million copies in their first week. Sunrise on the Reaping is also moving forward with production for a film adaption that was planned since the book’s announcement. This newest installment in the Hunger Games universe follows original trilogy fan favorite, Haymitch Abernathy. In the original series, Haymitch is Katniss’ mentor, assigned to help her navigate and survive The Hunger Games (a televised fight to the death among teenagers, for those who haven’t heard). At this point, Haymitch is an alcoholic, haunted by the 50th Hunger Games, which he survived as victor. Sunrise on the Reaping follows 16-year-old Haymitch as he is forced into those games and struggles to survive.
Literary Review:
This new round of Hunger Games books aims for a more mature audience than the original trilogy.
This increased maturity doesn’t come from any increased sexuality, cussing, or violence (though the past two installments are slightly gorier). Rather, it comes from the thematic discussions that Suzanne Collins is beginning to embed in her novels. With The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping, Collins is sliding slightly closer to highbrow literature. Today, she’s leaning closer to 1984 and further away from Twilight.
In an interview, Collins stated that she always starts a book with “the underlying ideas.” In regard to Sunrise, she stated, “When I landed on implicit submission and its dependency on propaganda, Haymitch’s was the natural tale to tell. Just like the state of nature debate led naturally to [The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes].” Collins is putting more focus on the discussion, relevance, and influence of her novels. This can also be seen in the novel’s epigraphs which features quotes from Orwell, William Blake, and David Hume. She also references Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, throughout the story, to highlight Haymitch’s descent into alcoholism and grief.
This increased focus on the literary quality of her work allows students to think critically about real moral, political, and social issues. As her work is still aimed toward a Young Adult audience, Collins is bringing political discussion to a level that a young audience can understand. As Ballad can be used to teach children about Hobbes and Rousseau and the state of nature debate, Sunrise helps them explore Orwell, implicit submission, and subliminal messaging.
Despite all these positive changes, Collins still fell prey to one distracting example of fanservice. The book is riddled with name-drops! Almost every main character from the original trilogy is referenced throughout the book. For instance, we are reintroduced to Mags, Beetee, Wiress, Effie, and Plutarch to name a few. Lucy Gray, a main character from Ballad, is also discussed at length, without Collins revealing any new information about her. Rather, what we already knew from the previous book is rediscovered by Haymitch. We also meet Katniss’ parents in their younger years, briefly encounter a relative of Peeta’s, and are shown the origin of the Mockingjay pin. While younger fans might find this endearing, it distracts from Haymitch’s story and can bore the readers who remember all the details Collins keeps repeating. This mistake could have been avoided if she revealed new information about the name-dropped characters rather than simply pointing them out.
Thematic Review:
Propaganda has always been an active part of the Hunger Games stories. In the original trilogy, both the capitol and rebels weaponize television to try to persuade citizens to join their cause. For example, Katniss agrees to help the rebels’ film propaganda pieces, nicknamed “propos.” Even the Hunger Games themselves serve as anti-revolution propaganda meant to frighten the districts into submission.
In this franchise, “propaganda” isn’t a dirty word. We see both the “good guys” and the “bad guys” trying to sway the court of public opinion.
This discussion of propaganda is given a closer look in Sunrise on the Reaping. Throughout their time in the Hunger Games, Haymitch and his allies discuss how to “paint their poster” in a good way. This idea formed when Haymitch’s father warned, “Don’t let them paint their posters with your blood.”
Suzanne Collins, in her exploration of propaganda, doesn’t outrightly condemn it. Instead, she challenges readers to think about what is influencing them and encourages them to question the rhetoric of everything. This becomes even more clear when readers reflect on Catching Fire, the second book in the series. At the end of Sunrise, Haymitch is shown the televised version of his Hunger Games. In this version, the Capitol has modified all the game’s events, so the public doesn’t know about the rebellious things Haymitch did in the arena. This “televised cut” version of events is the one Katniss sees and discusses in Catching Fire, and she doesn’t question it. She takes it at face value. This shows readers that when you’re not always questioning, you’re liable to fall for every story you hear. Even Katniss did.
Conclusion:
The discussion of implicit submission and propaganda introduced in Sunrise on the Reaping is one that is especially relevant today. In the age of social media, young people tend to turn their minds off as they scroll through Tik Tok and don’t even realize the propaganda that they’re being exposed to. Sunrise reminds readers that everyone has an agenda. All media you consume is always trying to sway you toward something, and you must remain mindful of which messages you allow into your subconscious.
This discussion is especially important for Christians. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus calls us to be “shrewd as snakes,” and Proverbs 4:23 instructs, “Guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.” Christians must always be on the lookout for rhetoric that contradicts God’s Word. We must be mindful of what we expose our hearts to. Weigh what you hear. Guard your heart.
As 1 John 4:1 says, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Believers are commanded to be discerning, not absorbent. As Sunrise on the Reaping teaches, everything has a bias behind it, and we must be mindful of what values we let shape our minds.
So, who’s painting your poster?
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
—Romans 12:2
The Judson Mosaic 