Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5)

[LinaVer]

Alina wrote: "LinaVer wrote: "Hi everyone again. These are my final jumbled thoughts after having read the book and your comments (now that I can read through them without spoiling it for myself). I loved the bo..."

Gosh, Alina, that last paragraph that you wrote just chilled me to the bone. 😱 I hope that was just a mistake on their part.

[LinaVer]

Jessica wrote: "Hi all late to the party life is hectic lol. I read this book back on April 7-8 and absolutely loved it. I had been in a reading slump for a hot minute and this was exactly the book I needed to get..."

So glad you enjoyed it, Jessica! I too have always loved Haymitch as a character.

[LinaVer]

Emily wrote: "LinaVer wrote: "How do you all think is Katniss connected to both Lenore and Lucy?"

There definitely is some kind of connection between the two of them but I think it's much more distant than a lo..."

Thank you, Emily, for taking time to respond. I love your thinking, especially what you said about the importance of community, chosen family and cultural connections in regards to Katniss/Lucy/Lenore, or just Hunger Games in general.
I think the importance of community (over individualism) and the wellness of communities might also be one of the many crucial things we might take away with us from these books (and probably Appalachian culture that SarahKat and Jill talked about earlier). At least that's one thing I am taking with me and that's what I was thinking a lot about while reading.
Also, there's strength in numbers. And like someone said above in this topic, while Haymitch (view spoiler)[might have started the sparks of revolution there in the arena, it is this strength of communities, groups of people of united districts that broke the arena and the whole system in the end. (hide spoiler)] That's mighty. And so well needed in our times, I feel like.

[LinaVer]

Cordelia wrote: "Finished. It was really good. I really enjoyed it. Its been ages since I read the rest - thought I might do a reread of the whole series."

I'm thinking of rereading the whole series as well. :) Glad that you could join this buddy-read and enjoyed the book, Cordelia.

[Jennifer]

LinaVer wrote: "Hi everyone again. These are my final jumbled thoughts after having read the book and your comments (now that I can read through them without spoiling it for myself). I loved the book and have a lo..."

I think that theory about the 75th games and 12 year olds is intriguing...
I'm just reading through all the comments and then I'll post my own thoughts on the book.

[Jennifer]

So many great comments here already. I finished the book about a week ago, and read the whole thing in about 2 days, but I have been incredibly busy and got sidetracked before being about to get through the comments and post my own.

I absolutely LOVED this book, and sobbed through the last quarter probably. Just reading some comments and references to it still brings tears to my eyes again. This one will stay with me for awhile.
I, too, would really like to reread the original series. I remembered some references and characters but I think this series has so many layers and richness that you could read it multiple times and still catch things.


(view spoiler)[ It broke me that Snow took so much from Haymitch too, and especially that, like SarahKat said, he didn't WANT to be alone but felt like anyone and everyone that he ever connected with would be doomed just to punish him. What a horrible way to live. My heart just breaks when I think about it.

I have been thinking about the question about whether Haymitch successfully broke the arena, and I think I agree that he was successful, in that he got under Snow's skin so much. I think it was one step in the bigger revolution, but a successful step. Part of me also wants to look at it this way because of how it may apply in current times in the US. I need to feel like each act and each step toward resistance is meaningful. And I also don't want to think that Haymitch was so destroyed for no reason.

I agree with Emily about the connection between Lucy Gray and Katniss. I think they are connected but not closely. The spirit of the connection, the songs, the commonality of experience, is what is important. (hide spoiler)]

I am really looking forward to rereading the whole series again.

[Cordelia]

I have suggested over on the Buddy Read thread that we could do a complete reread of this series starting in May. Would love it if others could join me.

[Carrie]

I was very late to the party on this as I didn’t read it until the last few days of April. I knew I would love it and wanted to save it for when I could fully immerse into it. I have read through the entire thread and really enjoyed all of the discussion and wish I had gotten to it sooner so that I could have participated.

(view spoiler)[
This book was so sad and depressing but in a way that I loved! My heart was breaking throughout the whole book as they made their plans knowing, because of Haymitch’s status in the original books, that it all would go terribly wrong. It was devastating and so hopeless.

In fact, the hopelessness that I felt for them was such an odd contradiction to the hopefulness that this story also brought. How can it have been so full of both? Maybe because it all comes down to perseverance. As sad as it was, every single rebellion and every single act of bravery and even every single loss over so many long hard years was probably imperative for the success that would eventually come.


As with every really good prequel, the timing was perfect for this book. If it had been written or read in chronological order the first time, it would have not been so emotionally effective. There was something in the knowing that Haymitch “wins” but really fails and will most likely lose everything that matters to him that kept my heart so engaged. I don’t even think it would have had the same effect if it had been released immediately after the original trilogy. It needed years of us knowing what would happen to fully appreciate the many years of planning, failing, and bonding. (hide spoiler)]

I don’t know if any of that made sense but this book just overwhelmed me with conflicting emotions. I mean, how often do you want someone to win and lose at the same time?

[LinaVer]

Jennifer wrote: "So many great comments here already. I finished the book about a week ago, and read the whole thing in about 2 days, but I have been incredibly busy and got sidetracked before being about to get th..."

Jennifer, like you, I also (want to) believe that each step toward resistance is important and meaningful! In February I visited Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam with my husband. That experience sits with me still and I find it very applicable to this topic/ book. I found it refreshing to visit a museum that looks at war not from the usual perspective of casualties etc (which is also important of course), but from the point of resistance. There were so many inspiring stories of people doing something against Nazism, and a lot of those acts can seem small and insignificant but we found them to be so inspiring and important. For example, there was this one family that fled to the UK but they were broadcasting a secret radio program and singing Dutch resistance songs on it that a (then small) girl of that family wrote. They never knew if anyone listened but later found out that a lot of people felt strengthened by those songs. Or there was this one lady who was asked to mend SS soldiers' socks, and she mended them shut so they could no longer wear their socks or even put them on! Mothers smuggling pamphlets and resistance newspapers in the prams of their babies. Etc etc. Smaller and bigger acts, all so important and significant! That's why it makes me believe that Haymitch indeed achieved his goal (view spoiler)[of "breaking the arena" (hide spoiler)], of resistance, no matter how small of a step it was in the long path of revolution (like we know it). And it makes me believe everything and anything small we can do now in these times is very important. Sometimes, even a word of support can be very significant.

[LinaVer]

Carrie wrote: "I was very late to the party on this as I didn’t read it until the last few days of April. I knew I would love it and wanted to save it for when I could fully immerse into it. I have read through t..."

You put everything into words so well, Carrie! It makes sense for sure and I feel like you've written down some feelings I've had about this book but was also struggling to put together.