From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)

Suzanne Collins

Start date: April 1, 2025

Finish date: April 30, 2025

Discussion: Book of the Month

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 3 topics — 644 comments total

Book of the Month

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Previous BOTMs
By Felicia · 11 posts · 732 views

last updated Dec 27, 2024 06:25AM

* BOTM Polls!
By Alaina · 23 posts · 213 views

last updated Aug 21, 2025 09:47AM

showing 10 of 17 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 19, 2025 Aly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, audiobook, march-2025, 2025, dystopian, survival

This was so good, but now I'm crying. Oh Haymitch ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2025 Claire rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: floab-2025, popsugar-2025, posugar-2025, uno-claire, 52-book-club

I am still wondering how to describe this book... first of all.
' it's not a bad read and since I read the other parts, it clarified a few things. A prequel is not always necessary and sometimes spoils the rest, but in this case, it doesn't spoil the rest. Hamish is a tragic figure. This novel gives a better understanding of the depth of his tragedy. The bottom line: if you give up everything and stay alive at the cost of other people's lives, will that life be worth it? Can an individual win fro ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2025 Ellen-Arwen Tristram rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, audio-book, buddy-read

The long-awaited fifth (or second, depending on how you look at it) book in The Hunger Games series! I've been looking forward to this, because even though I didn't enjoy The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as much as the original trilogy, it was still an enjoyable read - or maybe enjoyable isn't the right word - and I actually like Haymitch, and liked him from the beginning!

So, it's the second quarter quell, and we already know before it's started the Haymitch's name will get picked in the reapi The long-awaited fifth (or second, depending on how you look at it) book in The Hunger Games series! I've been looking forward to this, because even though I didn't enjoy The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as much as the original trilogy, it was still an enjoyable read - or maybe enjoyable isn't the right word - and I actually like Haymitch, and liked him from the beginning!

So, it's the second quarter quell, and we already know before it's started the Haymitch's name will get picked in the reaping. From then on, it's quite formulaic. We know what to expect from a book in this series; you have the reaping, the train ride, arriving in the Capitol, getting dressed up stylists, meeting mentors, training that usually turns out to be more useful than expected, the ratings, interviews with Caesar Flickerman, and then into the games. It's surprising how much of the book happens before actually getting into the arena, but I remember feeling that with the original trilogy too.

And I did feel emotionally invested, not only in Haymitch, but in some other characters we have reintroduced to us (I don't want to spoil anything too much). And the new characters that were Haymitch's fellow candidates, there were some great and stand-out characters there as well. Maysilee was my favourite. It's hard reading a book when you know that, inevitably, all of the characters you're trying to feel for are going to be dead within about 300 pages...

That makes me sound heartless; I was super sad reading this book. But, it also fell kind of flat, purely because the original trilogy was so outstanding - and it's hard to improve on that. Also, we know so much already - Haymitch's plan to destroy the arena just can't work because that's what Katniss does, and it's new - it means that it's predictable, and a little derivative/repetitive. The other thing that kind of annoyed me in the end, was Haymitch's obsession with 'his girl' back home; for two reasons: Lenore is one of the Covey and I think would probably stand with the modern day feminist objection to being the property of a guy; and, we didn't really get to know her, so Haymitch obsessing over her for so much of the book lost its power because she isn't on the page for 85% of the book. It's hard to relate to his teenage obsessive love when we don't even know the character.

All that being said, I appreciated it as a book - I won't say enjoyed because it was too sad (I was genuinely sad, and tearful at points). Still, despite some cool parts to the arena (leaving out for spoilers), I don't think this can hold a torch to the original trilogy. Perhaps that's unfair of me for having such high expectations, but it's also natural to compare a book to its antecedents.

As a standalone, this was a very sad and moving exploration of Haymitch as a character, but following a formulaic plot. As part of the series, I'm not sure it added all that much.

(Sidenote: The poem 'Nevermore' by Edgar Allen Poe is repeated a lot, and I kind of hate that poem :P Couldn't she have chosen a different one? I guess it's a poem nearly everyone knows, but I know it too well and it's overused, so every time we had a clip from it, I was just kind of irritated. Not fair of me, but being honest.) ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2025 Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: uno-2025, great-side-characters, young-adult, dystopian, fantastic-hero, for-a-challenge, all-of-the-feels, read-on-my-kindle, borrowed-from-overdrive, 4-and-a-half-stars

4.5 stars. This is the best book in the entire series. It’s fucking amazing. Haymitch’s story was long overdue and it definitely delivered. The angst in this? My goodness! Haymitch is strong because the shit he went through, all of those tragic deaths (view spoiler) I just wanted to hug him. This book had me in tears quite a few times I was that invested ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2025 Cozy Taurus rated it liked it

-My Grade: C ⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Spice: Some kisses, but not enough for a spice chili.
-Violence: Yep! Lots and lots! Very brutal and bloody.
-Shelf Worthy: Sadly no.

I was very hesitant on whether or not I was even going to read this book. I didn't read the previous Snow spin-off, mostly because I just have no interest on how he ended up turning to the dark side. But since I absolutely love the character of Haymitch I decided to give it a read. I'm know mostly how his story plays out so I wasn't sure what els ...more

Like · see review

Apr 09, 2025 Ashy Khaira rated it it was amazing

Having a view into Haymitch's games was interesting. Especially seeing as how he finds out who the district 12 victor before him was and how he got reaped. What he went through is just heartbreaking. The way things played out was unbelievable. But its also interesting to see how the books link up with the others. ...more

Like · see review