Sunrise on the Reaping Chapter 16 sees Haymitch recover from poisoning and reunite with Lou Lou inside The 50th Hunger Games arena. Haymitch continues to adapt to the arena and make his way north as part of Beetee’s plan.

FYI: This review is part of a series where I review one chapter of Sunrise on the Reaping each day as I read along!

What happens in Sunrise on the Reaping Chapter 16?

The chapter picks up with Haymitch dealing with the poison in his system – finding a cure in the black tablets included in the backpack he picked up from the cornucopia at the start of the games.

He finds a place to rest for the night. Projections of the tributes which have been killed show and Haymitch watches as he learns that just four of the twenty deaths so far were careers, meaning the rest are newcomers. He is incredibly saddened to learn that his fellow District 12 tribute, Wyatt, is one of them.

Shortly after waking up the next day, Haymitch hears a voice saying ‘Find Haymitch’. The voice belongs to Lou Lou who Haymitch then takes care of leading her along with him in his journey north.

Haymitch eventually makes them both baked potatoes. Towards the end of the chapter, Lou Lou spots flowers that likely remind her of home. She begins to breathe them in heavily and it is clear to Haymitch that the flowers have poisoned her. Haymitch pleads out loud ‘Enough’ in a desperate attempt to get the Game Makers to ease her suffering by ‘switching her off’ the way in which they have previously done. 

This is to no avail so Haymitch yanks the pump hidden underneath Lou Lou’s shirt ‘freeing her’ of her agonising death.

Review – Is Chapter 16 of Sunrise on the Reaping Good?

Yes! It was extremely interesting to see Haymitch’s quick thinking after being poisoned as well as watch him further ‘adapt’ to the arena – both finding how to cook and find a place to sleep for himself as well as find ways around the poisonous nature of the arena.

Lou Lou was a short lived fun surprise in this chapter. Her repetitive ‘find Haymitch’ upon her reunion with Haymitch suggests someone definitely gave her instructions to find him.

It was extremely sad to see Wyatt and Lou Lou go this chapter, but at least we can expect that we will see Maysilee again later on. The cliffhanger is on par with the rest of the chapters in Sunrise on the Reaping and creates a lot of suspense for what the implications of Lou Lou’s tragic death being cut short by Haymitch might be.

Discussion – Is This One of the Most Challenging Arenas In The Hunger Games History?

There have been some really difficult arenas such as the 49th Hunger Games with all the mirrors where Wiress was the victor which do sound pretty torturous and disorienting, but we also don’t know quite as much about these arenas so we can’t really compare them.

However, from the main arenas of each book we have had thus far, the debate for the most dangerous arena is definitely between Catching Fire’s and this one.

Of course, there is much of this arena that is yet to be seen (including the types of mutts etc) so a fair comparison can’t yet be made.  The fact that just about everything is poisonous including the food – and even the flowers as we learn at the end of Chapter 16 – does make for a particularly challenging arena.

I guess we will have to learn more about this arena throughout the following chapters and then we can maybe make a more accurate comparison in one of our later chapter discussions.

What are your thoughts?

Did you enjoy this chapter? Let me know your thoughts on Chapter 16 in the comments below!