As this book started I was not sure I was going to like this one in the series and it quickly became a very exciting book in the series. Haymitch's story is riveting and a great addition to the Hunger Game world. This novel does a great job connecting Snow's story and Katniss' together. A fantastic addition!

I have loved every book in this series, but I appreciated going back and getting filled in on Haymitch’s story and getting to revisit some other characters. I enjoyed getting to understand Haymitch and where he is coming from. I needed a quality story right now.

A wild ride so hold on tight!! Suzanne Collins has written a prequel that sets a high bar for all prequels! Many surprises, characters to love, despise, and feel sorry for. Nothing is left to the reader’s imagination thanks to her writing painting vivid pictures and pulling you into the story! You don’t want this story to end! Jefferson White was the PERFECT choice to narrate this work! Can he please read many, many more?!

Another amazing heart wrenching book. Since all the stuff happening around the world we needed this.

I’m not too keen on the narrator however he also did a good job! I wish Woody would’ve done it lolol.

I absolutely loved this book!! I have probably listened to it 5 times.

I’d be a drunk too

Favorite hunger games book .

Incredible. Couldn’t stop listening once I started.

good

Heart wrenching horribly sad. Amazing story and prequel. Mind blowing connections to the rest of the series.

Incredible. Couldn’t stop listening once I started.

I loved learning about Haymitch’s past in the hunger games. I cried when he got home and what happened there. I could hardly get my self to stop listening. The whole book is a work of art and gives me the same feels I felt reading the hunger games series for the first time.

Narrator made it painful to listen to but I love the book itself

I love this entire series. The narration by Jefferson White was so excellent and kept me riveted throughout

Excellent excellent book. Narrator is awesome. Great at changing the voice for each character. This book ties up all the questions from the other three books , grade ending of the trilogy

Loved!

Overall, great book to explain what happened to Haymitch and why he became a washed up drunk. The only complaint is that there is obsessive quoting of poetry towards the end, which is very distracting during an audiobook.

Probably my favorite book in the entire series. Fabulous story and the narration was incredible.

Amazing read! Can’t stop thinking about it. Truly an emotional roller coaster

screaming crying throwing up it so good but i hurt so bad

The narrator was so good! I looked him up to listen to other books he has narrated and to my surprise this is the first.

Great story and adds a lot of great background to all the main characters like president Snow, Hamitch etc. A must read/listen for any Hunger Games fan.

Incredible detail with winks to information we already knew from The Hunger Games and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as well as so much new information that was “forgotten” or not told through the lens of characters we already have heard from. An absolute gut wrenching book, must read if you loved the others in the series.

Haymitch is my favorite character!

How dare you. All I have to say is how dare this book be so freaking good. And the voice acting gods how dare he? I can’t spoil it but this man must be in love or have been in love and lost them for the way he says his girls name. The whole book I was wishing someone would say my name the way he says hers. Like you can hear actual love in his voice it’s devastatingly beautiful.

Love this addition to the series. Really adds to the world and lives of the characters!

it took you for a ride...at first you cant wait to get to the end...then when you get there...you want right back in for more.....

I really enjoy these books and how they tie togather to see how haymitch became the alcoholic was amazing the fact that you can see how evil snow could have been and was it shocking how so many people blindly follow people like that I see ourselves going down that road and that's scary

Awesome!! It's been so long since I've read a Hunger Games book.

This author never disappoints.

Loved the nostalgia I got from listening to this but it did make me very sad. Would def recommend if you loved the Hunger Games.

Not a good book.

Great book!

This is going to make a very interesting movie!!!

I was very disappointed in the book. While there were some imaginative aspects to the plot, it was so predictable and the ending was a total let down. The extensive use of Edgar Allen Poe's the Raven with different words got very old very fast.

Great book

Such a good read!

Amazing narrator and a heartbreaking story.

Great book. Kept me on the edge of my seat.

Beat hunger games book by far. If you want to cry, listen to this. If you need another reason to love Haymitch Abernathy, this is it. Jefferson did an amazing job bringing this book, and every single character, to life. Thank you Suzanne ❤️‍

Wish the poem at the end wasn’t added but the rest of the book narrator was great!

Loved this book so much. Might be my favorite in the hunger games world. A must read imo

It's was ok guess I was expecting something differ

I’m not even done with the book and I can already say that this is outstanding!!

Wonderful

Blew my mind! Makes me think of Catching Fire in a whole new light! Poor Haymitch

The best Hunger Games yet! The most violent and cruel games ever!

Ahhhh can’t wait for the movie! This series has grown with me since I was in middle school- so neat to see it grow into such a huge franchise

Engrossing, and the narrator was stellar!

So much about Haymitch I didn’t expect. He was my favorite in the original trilogy and this just cemented that. He’s always been a good guy at heart. I cried multiple times. Can’t believe Snow was already 58 at the second quarter quell.

100% loved this story. By far enioyed every reference to Poe made throughout the book.

This story was fantastic!!! I couldn’t not wait to listen, but then I didn’t want it to end!! What a beautiful glimpse into Haymitch’s life! This is the second book I’ve listened to with this author and he’s awesome!

The inflection was protrayed well!! If you’ve read other books the small easter eggs keep you on your toes.

An amazing book that had me crying Susanne definitely outdid herself on this one

Collins was asleep at the wheel for this one. About 30% in, I found myself thinking I think I’ve seen this film before…literally. Soooo this was literally just Katniss’s story with the names and details changed. The formula: we start in D12 for a glimpse at the main character (MC)’s life, reaping goes awry, MC takes train to capital, contestants get made up, do the interviews, go to training, get assigned ratings, head into the arena, chaos ensues, MC personally witnesses deaths of friends and allies, MC tries to defy the rules of the game/mess with the arena, MC wins the games, goes home, gets punished by the capital anyway, someone dies by poisoning, the end. The estate of Edgar Allen Poe should be suing for a ghostwriter credit on this. The Raven references started to feel cheap and stale after the 10th time, and I’m a huge Poe fan, so that’s really saying something. Then, at the end, the entire poem is recited in a way that felt like Collins just needed to hit the publisher’s required page count. We learned nothing new about Haymitch. It would have been cool to see more of his life growing up and/or more of his life after winning his hunger games. But no, instead we got the exact same plot from book 1 with a few of the names and details changed. Cheap and LAZY.

Another amazing and gripping Hinger Games tale. Hard to dip from the same well over and over and still come up with gold. She has done it again. Great individual story and epilogue.

Another bright star in The Hunger Games universe. Simple to follow, even while working or otherwise occupied. Haymitch's early years cast a Veil of devastation over the entire series and now, having rewashed the series after, I have to say- any qualms fans may have about prequels and "knowing the ending" because you know he wins and you know he lives are ill-placed. If you were ever a fan, give it listen and I assure you, it'll reignite that all too familiar spark.

i enjoyed the first part, then it became repetitive and predictable. lame. i found myself skipping ahead every time the Poe poems started

Fantastic book, and Fantastic narration. I was reading along in my physical copy and I eventually had to put it down because the audio was so much more engaging for my ADHD brain. Jefferson White was phenomenal on top of an already amazing book.

The best book of Suzanne Collins, hunger games series. It’s in the prequel with the original three. Of course, watching Yellowstone and love you, Jimmy, as the narrator was a cherry on top.

Love the series

This audiobook floored me. Absolutely exceptional in every way. If only time travel existed—I’d rewind just to hear it again with fresh ears

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. This is the most heartbreaking book in this series. I don't know if it's the fact that we know how Haymitch ends up, but seeing what brought him there was pure pain and suffering, and it brought tears to my eyes. These games were brutal, and the description of what these kids went through gave me chills. The entire time I just felt worse and worse for judging Haymitch throughout the first installments of this series. Seeing the kind of person he was, even as a teenager, what he went through, his thought process, it was eye opening, and I felt for him. The plot was intense, the story telling was great, the descriptions were terrifyingly well depicted. The cameos by the previous victors was so amazing. I loved seeing them there and seeing how they were before Catching Fire. There were only two things I did not like about this book. First, the amount of prose/song was too much, especially at the end. I get the point of Leonore being who she was but I could've done without more than half of it. Second, I was not impressed by the narration Jefferson White provided. I don't know if it was his voice in general or the lack of emotion in it that just did not do it justice for me. I'd definitely read this one instead of listen. All in all, it is an excellent book, and an amazing prequel.

Incredible narration by Jefferson White! Reading the book in my head was not nearly as exciting as hearing his voice enact the various character voices with perfect animation! Bravo! Gripping novel from the start and absolutely loved how the author tied in characters from her other novels. We did get frustrated with the large amount of sadness and depression towards the end, though it made sense as we understood the author’s purpose with the whole storyline. Read the rest of the Hunger Games series first before reading this book. It’ll make more sense.

Finished it in about 24 hours.Great story despite how you know the ending from the original trilogy. A little bit of fan service that is a little forced but on the whole still fit into the storyline of the other books.

I found myself transported back into my teenager self reading the hunger games for the Frist time back in high school. also was excited to dive back to the world. overall I love this book & Haymitch's story was highly engaging, not to mention heartbreaking. listening to Jefferson While narration Haymitch's voice in the audiobook was an bonus.

I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a long time.

Don't think for a second that you know this story based off the other Hunger Games books. Also prepare tissues. Suzanne Collins wrote exceptionally, as expected, and it was very well read by Jefferson White.

Ripped my heart out multiple times and trampled on it. Very very well written and really great audio production

The narrator did an amazing job portraying Haymitch, especially his internal dialogue. This story was everything I hoped it would be. There are several references to the other stories, so I suggest you read those first. However, this book could be read alone.

Nothing short of amazing. Suzanne Collins writes so meaningful and she paints you a picture. She is so good at tying this into the other books and explaining how Haymitch became who we saw. She breaks your heart within the first chapter and keeps you on your toes till the very last word. I thought because I knew some of the backstory it would make it better, but definitely cried with this one. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

I didn’t care for the poems or song lyrics. Overused. But I did enjoy the back story of Hamitch and several other victors. A vivid image of the games was once again painted by the author!

With knowing some of his background already, this story just surpassed everyone’s expectations. The amount of emotions felt in this story knowing how it ends and how characters are fleshed out. An outstanding book and it might be the best one in the series.