Catching Fire

Summary:

Fresh off of their victory in the arena, Peeta and Katniss are back for another adventure. Their actions in the arena, mainly the attempted suicide if they didn’t both win, have created a ripple in the districts. Although she didn’t mean to, Katniss has become The Capital’s biggest threat. President Snow makes it his number one priority to remind Katniss exactly what will happen if she doesn’t convince the districts her actions were out of love, not rebellion. With President Snow breathing down her neck, Katniss tries to protect her family and loved ones from the fate that awaits them if the Victory Tour doesn’t go exactly according to plan.

Characters:

Katniss Everdeen returns after being the co-winner of the Hunger Games and she has struggled with PTSD since her return. She has never truly left the games and due to this she mostly keeps to herself by hunting, helping Haymitch, and avoiding Peeta. Peeta Mellark is also dealing with the trauma of the games though he is also reeling from finding out that Katniss didn’t reciprocate his feelings and that has made it awkward between them.

Sebastian: 9.6/10

Catching Fire is my favourite of The Hunger Games novels and is one of my favourite novels period. I feel that this novel has the best balance of characters, drama, and action in the series and while middle sections in stories aren’t always loved I think they did a great job creating a bridge between the first novel and the third while still telling its own compelling story. The characters are just as memorable as the first novel with Katniss dealing with the extra stress and trauma that followed her from the games and which makes her more compelling but also a more hardened character than her first appearance. Haymitch plays a bigger role in this novel as well with him being a more hands-on coach for Peeta and Katniss doing a lot more mentoring. Finnick was my favourite of the new characters and his charm and personality make him one of the few characters with a positive attitude which makes him stand out. The arena in this hunger games is a lot cooler in this one with the water surrounding the cornucopia and the whole arena being a clock which is a quite clever twist. The fight scenes are well written and described in the novel and they feel engaging. I quite enjoy the way they reveal that there is an uprising in the districts through news feeds and actions made by people in other districts during the victors’ tour. It is a subtle way of revealing everyone’s feelings. The romantic drama I think is another aspect that is handled well as it never feels too much the focus of the story but when it is you like and care for the characters which make it compelling.

All in all, this is a fantastic book with some great drama and amazing action that I highly recommend you go read!

Austin: 9.3/10

This book is awesome. Suzanne Collins has not only written a great sequel but a better book than The Hunger Games. The characters we fell in love with in the first book just get better and better. Katniss is one of the best-written characters in recent memory with so many intricacies that it really feels like you know her. The development in the first book focused a lot on Katniss’s development as a singular character, but I felt Catching Fire focuses more on Katniss’s development in a group. Working as a team with Peeta and Haymitch, working with other characters including Gale, and it’s a completely new Katniss we didn’t dive too deep into in The Hunger Games.

I loved the way we get to explore the other districts. Just like The Hunger Games focused mainly on Katniss alone, we pretty much only explored District 12. With the victory tour, we got to take an in-depth look into nearly all the districts. There are a couple that got a pretty weak description but for the most part, we get a pretty good idea of what each district does and how it compares to District 12. I love some good world-building, and this just rounded out the world Suzanne Collins has been building. The plot itself is super captivating, gut-wrenching, and page-turning, but there isn’t much more I can say without giving everything away. I’ll just say, if you haven’t read this or seen the movie, and you predicted the main plot, you need to go buy some lottery tickets. It’s such a fun, easy read, but it’s super hard to put down. The characters are so well written and the plot puts them in a ton of precarious situations to keep you on your toes. There’s no getting bored reading this one. Catching Fire is an improvement on what I thought was a really good book 1. The characters are awesome, and the plot is deeper than The Hunger Games. The plot is as captivating as the first, but it doesn’t rely on the pure violent action scenes to hold your attention. If by some odd chance you haven’t read this yet, go pick it up ASAP.

Nathanyal: 9.2/10

Catching Fire was a wonderful sequel to the first novel The Hunger Games. It has everything you would want from a sequel: strong characters, tense plot, riveting action.

To start off, the negatives. For one, the beginning of the novel was quite slow. It takes a bit of time to build up to the eventful two thirds of the novel. However, after reaching that point, the pacing of the book does get faster. Another area that I wish was longer was the length of the Games. For the Quarter Quell, I thought the concept was interesting and wish it lasted longer.

Now, besides those two small points, the rest of the novel was a blast. For one, I really enjoyed reading the fallout of the first Games. It was interesting seeing how Peeta and Katniss act around each other, and to see how Katniss acts around her friends and family. Leading from this, I enjoy seeing the character development of all the characters and how things have changed. I especially like the subtle changes in Gale’s character. Besides the characters, I enjoyed the Quarter Quell arc. The whole time, it was tense, and action packed. The pace started ramping up during this arc and it really felt like things were “catching fire”. The Quarter Quell as a whole was great. The concept for this Game was interesting and it raised the stakes quite high. Leading from this point, another thing that the novel does well is suspense. As soon as the second part of the book hits, suspense is constantly in the air.

Overall, this was a very solid follow up to the first book, and one that I enjoyed more than the first. There was a lot of character development and tension that fit just right with the theme of the book. For those who aren’t sure if they want to continue, you should definitely give this one a try.