Catching Fire Review

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


**Spoilers for the first book ahead**



Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games series. This one had a different feel to it than the first but was still equally as captivating for me.



Katniss has beat all odds and won the Hunger Games. Luckily, so did her fellow district 12 tribute, Peeta. You’d think everyone would be on cloud 9 with this victory, but the Games seem to be far from over. In some ways, the Hunger Games is never ending. Katniss and Peeta are haunted by what happened in the arena and even more bothered by the consequences they are reaping from standing up to the Capitol by both winning the Games. This act, maybe small on its own, but in the big picture has roused people from their defeated lifestyles and inspired them to begin rebelling against the Capitol’s ways. With the political angst weighing heavily on everyone’s shoulder, Peeta and Katniss try to overcome their difference of feelings for each other. Confusion plagues our heroin, who seems to be a little on the dense side when it comes to matters of the heart. Katniss closest friend in the world, Gale, is another story. He is someone she always thought of in the most plutonic way, but he has turned into an undeniable itch that she just can’t scratch. Unlike most girls, she doesn’t want to focus on her heart. Her mind stays focused on bettering the life quality of the people surrounding her. Katniss has an even more complicated battle than the Games. She is pulled in different directions, wanting to settle the roused rebel voices, wanting to runaway like Gale wanted to from the beginning, and even wanting to join or start the a rebel cause of her own.



Catching Fire is definitely an intricately weaved tale. There’s a lot of unsuspected twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. The thought provoking parallels between our world and the Hunger Games world sink even deeper in our minds. The pace was perfect for the most part, but the ending sure does leave an overwhelming amount of unanswerable questions swirling in the mind far after the book has ended. As for Katniss, I love her to pieces. She’s learned a lot from the Hunger Games but is still highly ruled by her animal instinct mixed in with an unmanageable amount of hormones. Her uncertainty makes her endearing and interesting. She’s definitely unpredictable still but has learned to tame it down a bit when it comes to attack first and think later. The subtle love triangle is a great addition to this series and I just love that it doesn’t take the spotlight to the main issues. Great second book. You’ll want to drive right into the last book.



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