More than a decade after the first release of her dystopian and sci-fi saga, The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins does not fail to surprise her fans with more of her storytelling.
For bookworms who grew up reading Collins’ books from childhood to their early teens, Sunrise on the Reaping is a long-awaited nostalgic return.
Published on March 18, Sunrise on the Reaping is Collins’ fifth book.
The novel takes place in the Panem universe and it’s the second prequel to the original series.
Elena Cano, a fourth-year student at STU, said she started reading the Hunger Games saga because there was “a lot of hype” amongst her classmates.
“Collins does a great job of making [the books] action-packed and just really interesting,” said Cano. “Yes, it is a dystopian series and yes, they are fiction, but they can teach you a lot about the political climate that we live in at the moment.”
Sarah Tapley, also a fourth-year student, remembers that she started reading the books when she borrowed them from her Grade 6 English teacher’s “little book library.”
“I binged through those books so quickly … I loved them,” said Tapley.
Tapley also said that one of the things that stands out the most is how the games are so “sensational,” as they are streamed for citizens of Panem to watch.
“It’s the way that the Capitol audiences eat it up,” she said. “They’re so head over heels into this idea of the games and the intensity and the drama.”
For Sunaa Hansen, her first introduction to the series was the movies.
“I kind of rewatched the movies a lot when I was a kid,” she said. “I don’t know why, but they’re really comforting, even though it’s about a dystopian society where people kill their children.”
Hansen, a fourth-year student, mentioned that part of the Hunger Games saga’s charm comes from how Panem’s politics and world-building reflect the world we live in.
“It wasn’t just about stupid stuff like with some of the other fantasy books,” said Hansen. “You actually kind of saw similarities with today’s society and the way that it functions, especially its critiques of the Western world.”
The students also commented on Collins’s strategy of publishing the last two prequels in the past two years.
Whenever Collins announces a new book, it’s because “she has something to say.”
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping are not about satisfying the masses’ requests.
“I think Suzanne Collins was more interested in giving us the social commentary,” said Cano.
“It’s not to say that it’s not at all marketing, but I do think there’s at least a basis in the fact that she wanted to make people think about the world we live in today,” said Tapley.
