Suzanne Collins has recently come up with another book telling us the story of Haymitch Abernathy in the 50th Hunger Games. I had high hopes for this book, as I had read all four books in the series before this. However, I found myself disappointed with the depth that this book went into. While the book had potential, particularly with Haymitch as the lead, its rushed ending and lack of emotional follow-through made it feel incomplete. 

The Hunger Games takes place in a country called Panem, with a capital and twelve surrounding districts. Every year, as punishment for a rebellion that happened years ago, each district must send one male and one female tribute to compete in the Hunger Games, in which tributes kill each other until one victor is left standing. In prior books such as the three Hunger Games novels that feature Katniss, and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that features Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the president, we are able to witness these games multiple times and see connections between many people. However, Sunrise on The Reaping features Haymitch Abernathy, who is described in earlier books as Katniss's mentor. Haymitch's games take place during the 50th Hunger Games, which is the 2nd Quarter Quell. As this is a special year, the capital required districts to send 2 male and 2 female tributes, doubling the number of tributes and halving the odds of winning. 

In Sunrise on The Reaping, Haymitch Abernathy is described as smart and witty, and he seems to resent the system, looking for ways to rebel constantly. As he is chosen for the Hunger Games and taken to the capital, he continues to look for ways to demonstrate his independence and challenge the capital through acts of defiance. This eventually makes him an enemy of the capital, and after he wins and goes home after the game, his family and loved ones are immediately killed. With a few pages left, it is said that the capital has threatened anyone who gets close to him, so we can assume that he has been lonely and has not had any friends for 24 years until Katniss and Peeta win their games and change everything.

Suzanne Collins did a good job developing the characters in this book, as there were a lot of new characters to introduce to readers. She spent a lot of time in the beginning of the book, allowing us to get to know characters such as Wyatt and Maysilee. This part of the book was well-developed as it gave readers a chance to better understand these characters before their deaths. However, I feel as though the many pages developing characters before the games could have been shortened, and more time could have been spent discussing the aftermath of the games. While a good chunk of the book was spent developing these characters, barely any time was spent after the fact, despite the many possibilities that the author had to further discuss.

This book failed to go into depth on anything immediately after the games. As soon as Haymitch got home, we only had a few pages left to see that his family died, and that is it. There are so many possibilities that the author could have explored after the fact, such as all of the tributes that Haymitch had to mentor, the victory tour, talking to Snow, etc. 

However, this book did not explore any of this, and rather, ended abruptly without giving readers much insight as to what followed for Haymitch after his games. 

As I had read all of the books in the series prior to this book, I realize the emotional depth that occurs as a result of seeing young children go off into the reaping and then getting killed and not returning. As a result, I realize that there was an opportunity in this book to discuss the effect on Haymitch and his character from seeing this cycle of children dying for 25 years, causing him to turn to alcohol. 

However, this book did not go into any of that. I expected a lot more from this book and think that this was a missed opportunity that the author seems to have overlooked or chose not to include. 

Though the beginning of the book was good, the ending did not meet my expectations and failed to further explain Haymitch's situation. Rather, it ended abruptly, leaving a feeling of dissatisfaction among myself as well as other readers.