Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publish Date: September 1, 2009
Genre: YA, dystopian
Pages: 391
Series: The Hunger Games
1. The Hunger Games (review)
2. Catching Fire
3. Mockingjay (August 24, 2010)
**WARNING: SPOILERS!**
Find it on Goodreads here.Synopsis:
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Captiol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
From hardcover jacket
I rarely ever read a series of books back-to-back. I like the break between books so my brain understands that they’re not all just one long book. However, I jumped right into CATCHING FIRE within a few days of finishing THE HUNGER GAMES.
I don’t know what I was expecting from book 2, but I got much more than I anticipated. The story of Katniss, the girl on fire, just got better and better with every page turned. The rebellions and upheaval in the districts set me on edge and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to the people of Panem.
The relationship between Katniss and Peeta just got more and more complicated. Being back in District 12 and having Gale around again definitely didn’t help that fact. I found myself constantly frustrated with Katniss and Peeta any time they interacted. I don’t blame either of them for this, their relationship is stuck between a hard place and a rock. So is Katniss’s relationship with Gale. It’s all just so complicated!
The story was much better than the one in THE HUNGER GAMES. In CATCHING FIRE, Katniss, her friends, and her family have to deal with the aftermath of Peeta and her winning the Games together. She has President Snow breathing down her neck, and the people of Panem holding her on a pedestal as the leader of the rebellion (in a very inconspicuous way). I didn’t know so much time was going to pass over the course of the book. It worked well, but I just wasn’t expecting it. Tiny sneak peek: we get to the beginning of the next Hunger Games. But that’s all I’m saying!
I feel very comfortable saying that I enjoyed CATCHING FIRE more than THE HUNGER GAMES. There was a larger variety of settings and issues to deal with. It was very political in a sense, because of the conflict with President Snow, but that didn’t detract from the story telling. It caught me off guard a lot more often, too, but that’s always fun! Definitely worth it to continue with this series. I can’t wait to see what happens in MOCKINGJAY! That ending has my heart in knots!
Oh, and I think I’m prepared to declare myself Team Peeta! ;)
Haha, I was exactly the same as you - I don't usually read books in a series back to back, but I felt compelled to with these books!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're on Team Peeta. Who WOULDN'T be!? :)