Chapter 5 details the District 12 tributes meeting with their stylist and going on their tribute parade chariot ride which takes a deadly twist.

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

What Happens in Chapter 5 of Sunrise on the Reaping?

The chapter begins with the tributes being driven to the old gymnasium of the Academy (the elite Capitol school Snow attended in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes). Haymitch and his fellow tributes are washed with insecticides before meeting with their prep team – two university students in Haymitch’s case – and then meeting with their stylist.

The stylist is to give them outfits for them to wear on their chariot ride to President Snow’s mansion where spectators gather to watch. It is in the best interest of the tributes that they impress the crowds and those watching on Capitol TV as it can help them to win sponsors. Unfortunately, Haymitch and his fellow District 12 tributes are stuck with a dated stylist who arrives late and gives them the same unappealing outfits he has used many times before.

Haymitch, Louella, Maysilee and Wyatt go out in their chariot – which has what seems to be the least trained horses of all the chariots – in what appears to be the worst outfits of all the districts. With the odds stacked against them, the Distrcit 12 tributes try to make a good impression for the crowds. Haymitch shares words of encouragement to Louella.

The rowdy crowds of the parade make it difficult for the horses of the chariots to stay on course and the firing off a firework from the crowd ultimately causes the horses of their chariot to go off-course with Louella and Haymitch being thrown from the District 12 chariot.

The chapter closes out with Haymitch finding himself amongst a pile of blood… belonging to Louella.

Review – Is Chapter 5 of Sunrise on the Reaping Good?

The chapter takes us to the Academy which is of course a very interesting setting for readers given the fact it was a main location in the previous The Hunger Games prequel book.

Finding out about the prep team and stylist of District 12 makes for a somewhat interesting read but the most memorable part of this chapter lies in its last two pages when the tributes make their way into the parade and the crowds cause the horses to throw Haymitch & Louella from their chariot resulting in Louella’s death.

This cliffhanger ending serves as a both shocking and emotional ending for the chapter which heightens readers’ emotions and makes them desperate to read on to see how Haymitch will deal with this continuing series of unfortunate events in his life as he loses Louella who he had mentioned earlier on in the chapter as being the only thing that was giving him the will to fight. 😭

Discussion – Is Louella’s Death One of the Saddest and Most Shocking in The Hunger Games Franchise?

It might just be Chapter 5 but Louella has already endeared herself to readers and I think that her death is definitely one of the most shocking and saddest in the whole of The Hunger Games series.

Not only does this death change the ideas of what I had in my head for how Haymitch’s Hunger Games would play out but it is also one of the deaths that has made me the most upset. Seriously, I think this death belongs to the Prim and Rue category of saddest The Hunger Games deaths. 🫠

I wonder how going forward Haymitch will find a reason to fight and how he will handle his grief? We have already seen that he is not one to move on quickly and that he is a deeply empathetic person with his constant grieving thoughts of his life/relationships back in District 12. It is likely that he will now focus on forming more strategic allies so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. We may see him and Maysilee or Wyatt make it to the near end of The 50th Hunger Games together.

What are your thoughts?

Did you enjoy Chapter 5 of Sunrise on the Reaping? What did you think of Louella’s death? Would you rank it as one of the most upsetting deaths in The Hunger Games history?