Guys. I was SO excited to finally get to read Haymitch’s story. I literally devoured this book and finished it within 24 hours. Now, I’m wanting to reread every book and rewatch every movie 🙃. There were so many cameos and familiar faces and it was so much fun to see how they all intertwined. I’m gonna go over the characters, the plot, and what I loved most about this book. 

With the characters, we get mentions of everyone below:

• Katniss’ mom and dad
• Wiress 
• Mags
• Plutarch Heavensbee
• Beetee
• Effie Trinket
• Lucy Gray Baird
• Katniss and Peeta

In the spoilers, I’ll go over exactly when and where and how much we see of each, but for now, I’d like to go over our new characters.

The most memorable ones are Ampert and Maysilee, but another worth mentioning is Lenore Dove. Ampert is Beetee’s son and his story is honestly so sad. But somehow, he kept his spirits up. He was memorable for the large part he played in helping Haymitch want to rebel. Also because he was Beetee’s son. Maysilee, on the other hand, is honestly the only character who was memorable for her unique personality. She was my favorite for sure and has this prickly “higher than thou” persona that is super interesting as the book goes on. Then there’s Lenore Dove. I felt like she was a watered down version of Lucy Gray and it kind of just made me bored. I wanted to at least mention her, though, because she’s covey and Haymitch’s girlfriend. 

As far as Haymitch goes, I liked his character and seeing how he evolved into the Haymitch we know from The Hunger Games, but he honestly wasn’t that interesting. I felt like there was a flip flop between wanting to protect his family and Lenore, and then rebelling and forgetting about them completely. Like, I get it, you want to stick it to the Capitol, but you literally have Beetee as proof that your loved ones will almost certainly face consequences for your actions and yet Haymitch still acts like the only one they will hurt is him. It confused me a lot throughout the book. 

When it comes to the plot, it’s basically set up exactly like The Hunger Games: the kids get reaped, go to the Capitol for training and interviews, and then go through the hunger games. It was a very predictable set up and nothing really surprised me at all, but if you enjoy the world of The Hunger Games, this will still be entertaining. Just don’t be surprised when you feel like it’s following an old template. 

Alright, what are my favorite things about this book? The familiar characters and seeing them all tie into the story (and, in turn, The Hunger Games), and revisiting the world that we all came to know and love. What did I dislike? Well, I refuse to say hate because I really did enjoy this book, but it was SO predictable. It didn’t feel like anything new and felt like a mash up of The Hunger Games and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (with the covey romance at least). 

Spoilers ahead.

So, I’m gonna go ahead and break down where you see each character, when, and for how long. 

• Katniss’ mom and dad are mentioned and seen in the beginning and in the end. Apparently they were friends with Haymitch. 
• Wiress was one of District 12’s mentors who eventually gets tortured due to Haymitch’s actions and that’s how we see her in Catching Fire. 
• Mags is the same situation as Wiress. 
• Plutarch Heavensbee is the filmmaker for District 12 and also gives advice to Haymitch on how to rebel. While he never gets caught, you get to see how he was always fighting for the revolution from the inside. 
• Beetee is Ampert’s, one of the tributes, father. Ampert is only in the Hunger Games because Beetee tried to defy the Capitol. His punishment was having to be front and center while his son died. He’s seen in training and is mentioned a few times after that. 
• Effie Trinket shows up a little later in the novel and saves District 12 from looking like a disaster of coal miners. She actually tries to dress them nicely, thus starting the long relationship with Haymitch later on throughout the series. 
• Lucy Gray Baird is only mentioned by name once at the very end and it’s when Haymitch sees her headstone. She’s mentioned before that as the only winner from 12 for the Hunger Games, but never by name. 
• Katniss and Peeta are mentioned in the epilogue and make a quick appearance. 

As far as spoilers go, honestly there’s not much to spoil because it was so predictable. Haymitch tried to start a revolution, failed, got his mother, brother, and girlfriend killed, then turns to alcohol to forget his problems. We already knew the last part, but what makes everything else so predictable is he had to have lost a lot to be the way he was in The Hunger Games, so it only makes sense for everyone he loves to die. I just wish we could have made this a little less predictable even though I have no idea how to anyway. 

Overall, I really did enjoy this novel even though it was predictable and felt very similar to the original novel in the series. Although, I loved being able to see familiar faces and how they eventually tie into the trilogy that we all know and love. I’d give this book a solid 4/5 and would definitely recommend it to any fans of The Hunger Games. 

Source: Audiobook from Audible

(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Everand, which gives you three free audiobooks or ebooks of your choice!)