Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

#2 in The Hunger Games Series
Published in 2009 by Scholastic
4 Stars


Goodreads Review
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol.


Review:  Catching Fire is the second installment of The Hunger Games trilogy that introduces new characters and even deeper conspiracies and conflicts. Katniss has more struggles than ever and doesn't know who to trust or what she should do to protect those she loves.  In Catching Fire there is a lot of what everyone loved from the first book, The Hunger Games.  There is crazy fight scenes, government control and rebellion against it, and angsty love triangles.   


Catching Fire is a difficult book to review and I think this is because it feels like a transition book and not a novel in it's own right.  Many of the plot devices seen in The Hunger Games were repeated in Catching Fire.  Yes there were differences with some of the specifics, (who was involved, how things were set up, ect) but the main events were almost exactly the same.  This really bothered me because I think that in a series there should be a large story arc that spans all of the books and ties them together but each individual book should be it's own story with a unique beginning, middle, and end and Catching Fire was lacking that individuality.


I will say that I did enjoy all of the new characters, the arena setup was fantastic and very creative, and I LOVED the ending which was very exciting and did a great job of setting up the final book.  I liked learning more about the overall political climate in Panem and the impact that Katniss's actions will have on the future of all of the districts, not just her family and friends.  The action sequences were well written and very exciting and I really appreciated that evolution of Katniss's romances.  


Overall Catching Fire is a continuation of the story that provides details about the conflicts with the government on a world wide scale but does not stand as it's own distinct novel.  Catching Fire is still a very exciting book that continues the story well and should not be missed.