Catching Fire

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

2009

400 pages

“Life in District 12 isn’t really so different from life in the arena. At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.”

Summary: Katniss has retuned from the games as a victor with her supposed boyfriend Peeta thinking everything might return to normal, but she couldn’t be further from the truth. The Capitol, unimpressed by her stunt with the berries, is far from through with her, and when the President comes to District 12 with a threatening message for her, the stakes get even higher. There are rumours of rebellion and Katniss is unknowingly at the centre. As her apparent power is realized she will have to make a decision, continue to play along with the Capitol, take her family and run, or stand up and fight.

Review: Katniss Everdeen is not the only girl on fire, so is Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire was a fantastic second book. With the ground work of character development and world building already done in Hunger Games, Collins was able to focus more on plot development and surprises. This book has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster! Despite the fast paced nature and the fact that I couldn’t read it quick enough, there is actually tons of deep story layering taking place – all the pieces coming together throughout the book, leading up to the surprising cliff-hanger. Everything is more in this book, more suspense, more romance, more Capitol trying to control and more Katniss kicking butt! Once again, Collins creates a book that is brilliant on all levels and I absolutely cannot wait until the third book! (go team Peeta!!).

You might like Catching Fire if you enjoy books with: fast paced plots, surprises and suspense, relatable characters and love triangles, other worlds similar to our own, and books in a series.

Other books by Suzanne Collins: Hunger Games and the Underland Chronicles

Additional Info: The third book in the series is set to be released in August 2010 and Catching Fire was named one of the 10 best novels in 2009 by Time magazine.

Author’s website found here.

Rating: W3.5/4 C4/4 P4/4 O4/4 PP4/4 CR4/4
Grade: JS+