As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

Undoubtedly this is one of the most anticipated books of the year. Collins is a fantastic writer, willing to broach complex themes. Of course, there’s already a movie deal in the works to hype up the fandom more. Not to mention it’s from Haymitch’s POV in the 50 games aka Second Quarter Quell where there’s double the number of kids to die.

Hey, it’s entertainment.

It goes without saying, Collins is a consistent writer, demonstrating throughout these novels the worldbuilding of Panem at different parts of its history. While BOSAS dealt with the primitive version of the games, we glimpse the transition period of the Games we see in the trilogy. More glamour, more editing, and posing to get the audience to dehumanize the tributes, treat them as pets and animals, and enjoy their slaughter. There are still kinks in the system as Haymitch experiences and tries to utilize to his adventure in an attempt to break through the propaganda and make the Capitol “own” what they’re doing.

It’s no spoiler to say, the attempts fail. This book is bittersweet, and somewhat disconcerting to see Haymitch be a somewhat happy, normal teenager. He has his girl, he tries to help his family the best he can in a corrupt system. Life’s tough, but he doesn’t complain. Knowing how he ends up in the trilogy, you know it will be a wringer for him as we read each attempt to subvert/sabotage the games are muted by Snow’s wider machinations, and the punishments ruin Haymitch’s life, sense of purpose, and drove him to drink.

A major theme is implied submission which Haymitch exhibits in spades. Yes, he tries to help sabotage the Games, but there is a part of Haymitch that wants to not do it. He has a family he wants to protect, he wants to live, so he settles for half-measures instead of outright rebellion because that will get you killed. But the half-measures don’t seem to mean much, so he becomes even more disillusioned.

It’s a bitter lesson tying into another message that was a bit on-the-nose in the last pages, but worthwhile for the demographic. Sometimes, you won’t see the changes you try to bring. You may not be the martyr that brings the system crumbling down. Progress is a continuum.

Now, we got the major points out of the way, Collins delivers some new information about familiar characters like Beetee, Mags, Wiress, Drusilla, Plutruch, Effie, Katniss’ dad, etc. Snow, obviously. Also bittersweet since we know how they end up and the extra suffering in store for them. Sometimes it feels like she’s trying to wrap it up too neatly, giving readers insight to each cog in the clock that leads to the revolution in the trilogy. I mean, I like it when authors plants the seeds of events for later, but this one feels too obvious. Especially with the Coveys. In this case, Haymitch’s girl is Lenore Covey who is as whimsical and musical as the other Coveys. Their romance is sweet, but she seemed too maniac pixie dream girl for my taste.

Though I did enjoy Haymitch’s rascally bootlegger persona he put for the interviews as an ironic foreshadowing of the sad drunk he’d become.

I guess, part of my dissatisfaction or the limits of writing a prequel is that we know what happens to the characters, so it doesn’t feel like we truly learn anything new. Arc-wise, it’s heart-rendering to see how his traumas compounded to Haymitch’s current state years later. Information-wise, nothing too revelatory. We know that the Capitol is awful. We know humans in general are awful. We know the tributes and some Victors suffer a lot.

With Collins announcing this book would focus on implied submission and propaganda, I thought it could have been better if we got the book from the perspective of someone who actually bought the propaganda. Katniss fought against it, Snow helped invent, and perfect it. Haymitch was never affected by it because he was on the side of truth, so we don’t really see it the POV of someone who believes and becomes disillusioned or something.

Like the Careers, that could have potential since there was friction between the Capitol and District 1/2 verging too close in BOSAS and it is implied here. But no. Honestly, I’m just tired of District 12. I want to see the other Districts like 10 with their cattle, and horses, and 11 since they always produce interesting side characters (who get killed) and 6, 9, and 8 that I completely forget what they produce.

Another part I felt was weak was we never get to see Haymitch’s emotional anguish between the arena and the drinking. I understand that he was drugged a lot, and while in the arena he didn’t have the luxury to process his grief. But I just wanted that one breakdown moment, to really feel his grief before he gets to drinking.

Otherwise, 3 stars.