Going back to Panem. You should join me. ~Sheila

Haymitch Abernathy is about to celebrate his sixteenth birthday. As a teen of District 12, that means maybe an extra ration. It also means, as it does every year on this date, the reaping for this year’s Hunger Games. In celebration of this milestone year, the Fifitieth Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell, the Capital will not take one boy and one girl from each District but two boys and two girls. Forty-eight in all will enter this year’s game. Only one will come out.

Haymich knows that District Twelve produced the winner of the games only once, so long ago, in fact, that he does not remember their name.

Today, he just needs to get through this year’s selections and get to the special dinner he knows his mom has saved for, and spend time with the girl he loves.

And then, the names are called.

“Haymitch Abernathy”

Ahhhh Susanne Collins…. absolutely brilliant. For those of you who were Hunger Games readers and fell in love with this harsh dystopian series that became movies, then you know all the feels I have here.

Admittedly, I did not read the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, another prequel to the Hunger Games that we know and love – and maybe as I type this, that’s the “why”. As with any book/series you come to love – sometimes it’s treacherous territory to open yourself up to an additional book that may or often, may not, meet the standards you have set with the original books… lightning, as they say, does not strike twice –

But they also say, time heals…

And so – while looking for my next listen as I cook and clean and the outdoor calls – I was crazy excited when I came across this title, and more so when I discovered that this was Haymitch’s story ( you will remember him as the drunken, damaged mentor for Katniss and Peeta ). If you recall – he had a history with the games that he alluded to – and now… here it is.

I loved how the book begins, his story, his family, and his girl – all left behind as he enters the game with no delusional thoughts of believing that he would be coming back. (Although – no spoiler here… we know he survives as this is the 50th Hunger Games and we meet him again in the 74th…)

This was a worthy read – as mentioned, I loved the back story, and I really enjoyed how his experience in the Hunger Games was so different than the one we experienced in the earlier books.

While there are major parts in this book that explain the adult Haymitch, there were some parts towards the ending I could have done without (*cough cough tedious reciting of poetry) that really started to give the impression of filler for the pages.
That aside, I am glad I read it and would recommend that you do as well.

Rated: 3.75 out of 5
Read Author Before: Yup!
Read Author Again: If the right book comes along 🙂
Possible Triggers: Its Hunger Games, you know there will be death.. Nothing I would call overly graphic
Where Listened: Home/Car