*Spoiler Alert*

My love for reading started during the PSSAs in seventh grade. I was reading “The Maze Runner,” by James Dashner. Of course, I read the book because the movie with Dylan O’Brien was ecstatic. I remember rushing through the test, totally flunking it because I was randomly answering A, B, C or D. That’s how captivated I was by the world of Gladers.

Ever since, I have wanted to chase that “high” I got from reading a book. When everything else around you disappear, and everything goes quiet for as long as you want – or until you make it to that last page. Truly the best possible addiction. 

That feeling started to revive whenever I read “Sunrise on the Reaping,” by Suzanne Collins. We will talk about the book that completely revived this love at another time. I read “Sunrise on the Reaping” over the summer, and I had no idea what to expect. I realized that Collins is not an author you should even try to predict, unless you want to end up getting your feelings hurt – which is exactly what happened to me. I should’ve known this about Collins after reading “The Hunger Games” trilogy and “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” 

I knew a few things about Haymitch before reading this book: he won the games at a young age, he was the first recorded District 12 tribute to win, he was an alcoholic, his family was dead, and he had no love interest. After reading his story, I want to cry for him. I had to even re-watch the original movies to pay more attention to his character to see if there was a breadcrumb I missed. 

The one part I loved the most in this book was how Haymitch was so loyal to his other tributes even when he tried acting like he was not. He tried several times to distance himself from the others to protect them because he thought the capitol was targeting him. Ultimately, he realized that made things worse, and he tried so hard to save his friends. The loyal trait is one of my favorites to have in a main character because if they are going to be loyal, then there is no reason I am not going to be loyal to them as the reader.

My jaw completely dropped when Mags and Wiress were revealed as the District 12 mentors, and it was the second quarter quell. I knew I was in for a ride as soon as I read that it was a quarter quell. I quite literally got this nervous feeling in my stomach – kind of like butterflies, but not in a good way. 

Lenore Dove Baird’s character did not make an impact on me. I know she was important to Haymitch. That’s why I loved her character and even cried when she died, but that was all the MC’s doing. The feelings he was experiencing caused me too as well. I did not cry because I was sad, but because he was sad and loved her to the ends of the earth. I would have enjoyed more scenes with her character instead of the MC obsessing over her the entire time, but it still managed to work in its own way. The emotion that the author wanted to get across was achieved. Afterall, the story was not about her even though she was a crucial point to the entire plot.

President Snow did his thing this book, and I wish he did not because it broke my heart. I am talking about Maysilee Donner. Her death being another point in the book in which I cried. Specifically when the book read, “I just stare into those burning blue eyes, letting her know she’s not dying alone. She’s with family. She’s with me.” Waterworks.

Overall, I think this novel is the goriest and saddest out of the whole series. It had me counting down the hours until I could read after I got off work. Now, I must impatiently wait until November 2026 for the film adaptation. Suzanne Collins is a mastermind and the writer I aspire to be.

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