9 Big Reveals From The Newest Hunger Games Book, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’

Sunrise on the Reaping is the fifth Hunger Games book. Released in March 2025, this prequel tells the story of young Haymitch Abernathy, who is selected to compete in the 50th annual Hunger Games. This article discusses details from Sunrise on the Reaping, so stop reading if you don’t want to be spoiled.

What happens in Sunrise on the Reaping? In the 50th quarter quell, twice as many tributes are reaped from each district. Haymitch Abernathy is selected as one of District 12’s four tributes when one of the original male tributes runs and is killed by peacemakers. Haymitch becomes allies with the other tributes from his district as well as several other districts to combat the powerful careers and their alliance. He is also recruited as part of a rebel plot to destroy the arena from inside the games.

The arena for the 50th games appears to be a candy-colored paradise full of lush vegetation — but almost everything is secretly poisonous. Haymitch goes through with the plot to break the arena, but it doesn’t succeed in ending the games. However, in the process Haymitch discovers the force field at the edge of the arena and uses this to win.

As punishment for rebelling against the capitol, Haymitch’s mother, younger brother and girlfriend are all killed by President Snow. This results in Haymitch forcing himself into the isolation and drunken stupor we see him in when he becomes Katniss and Peeta’s mentor in the 74th annual Hunger Games.

Some of the book’s bigger reveals include:

1. Haymitch was close friends with Katniss’ father, Burdoch. He notes that Burdoch hunted with a bow and arrow, that he loved singing and that he loved the woman who became Katniss’ mother (Astrid March, who worked in the Apothecary). After the games, Haymitch had to throw rocks at the loyal Burdoch to finally end their friendship so that Burdoch and Astrid would be safe from President Snow.
2. Beetee’s tragic backstory. Beetee is a genius electronics inventor for the Capitol and the victor of the 34th Hunger Games. After Beetee began rebelling, the Capitol punished him by reaping his son Ampert. Beetee was forced to mentor and watch as Ampert competed with Haymitch and was brutally killed by Capitol mutts. Ampert’s mother was pregnant at the time of the games and we do not know the fate of Beetee’s second child.
3. The origin of Katniss’ Mockingjay pin. In the books, Katniss is given the pin by Madge Undersee, the mayor’s daughter. The pin belonged to Madge’s aunt, Maysilee Donner, who competed as an ally with Haymitch in the 50th annual Hunger Games. The pin was made by Haymitch’s girlfriend’s uncle, Tam Amber. In the 74th annual Hunger Games, Katniss wears the pin as her token.
4. Katniss’ relation to Lucy Gray Baird. Lucy Gray was the victor of the 10th annual Hunger Games and the main character of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She was part of the Covey from District 12, a one-time nomadic band of traveling performers. In Sunrise on the Reaping it is confirmed by Lenore Dove that Katniss’ father, Burdoch, is her cousin. This means that Katniss is a distant relative of the Covey.
5. Effie Trinket’s origin story. Effie is the older sister of a Capitol Academy student assigned to help Haymitch. She is presented as a knowledgable and popular young woman who can fix any fashion or event related emergency. When the District 12 stylist turns out to be a lazy drug addict, Effie saves the day.
6. Haymitch’s love of white liquor began before the games, when he worked as an apprentice for a woman who made it. Young Haymitch may have been an aspiring bootlegger, but he wasn’t a drinker until after the games.
7. Plutarch Heavensbee was a rebel long before Catching Fire. Eventual Head Gamemaker Heavensbee is shown in the prequel making Capitol propos for the District 12 tributes and secretly helping Haymitch with the rebel plot to break the arena. It would be wonderful to see more of Plutarch in the upcoming Sunrise on the Reaping film adaptation, but they’ll have to recast the character as Philip Seymour Hoffman (who portrayed the character in both Mockingjay films) has passed (RIP).
8. Snow’s love of poisoning goes back decades. This was previously confirmed in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes when Snow poisoned a professor at the Academy. However, in Sunrise on the Reaping we see this up close and personal. Haymitch witnesses the aftermath of Snow poisoning a Capitol employee for botching the tribute parade.
9. The beginning of Wiress’ fragile state of mind. Competent and caring, Wiress and Mags (who both appear as tributes in Catching Fire) mentor the District 12 tributes and prepare them for the Games. After Haymitch rebels, they are shown to be fragile at the end of Sunrise on the Reaping as the Capitol has tortured them.