Catching Fire Book Review

Author: Suzanne Collins

Date of Publication: May 3, 2011 (Kindle)

Publisher: Scholastic Fiction

Pages: 472

Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Paperback or Kindle: Both

Fiery Fantasy Thoughts

In this novel, Katniss Everdeen is back home in Sector 12, after surviving The Hunger Games and is not looking forward to her role as a mentor for the next year's games. She is surprised to hear rumours that her defiance of the Capitol and President Snow during the Games has sparked unrest and even conflict in other sectors. She realises how far the disharmony has gone in these sectors when she (and her co-winner, Peeta), conduct a tour of the districts.

Katniss realises that her name and her emblem, the Mockingjay, are being taken up as a symbol of rebellion and hope.

Determined to demolish Katniss's influence in these sectors, Snow devises a special new Hunger Games event for the 75th anniversary of the games. All the living winners of the games must return to the arena for a fresh battle...

Catching Fire is the second volume of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins' highly successful, post-apocalypse, dystopian YA Science Fiction series, however I personally feel that the first novel was slightly better.

I felt Catching Fire had some slight consistency issues as when we're more than halfway through the novel (before the second Hunger Games kick off); we are not able to spend much time with those games before the conclusion arrives.

I did like that the arena is also far more ingenious, with many more deadly traps in this novel as it showed Snow’s strong determination to take down Katniss.

However, I did feel the games section of the novel and the conclusion were both rushed in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible before the final novel, which I felt hurt the quality of this book.

In conclusion, it's still a fast-paced, readable and enjoyable book. We see more of Panem and get more of an idea what life is like for people living there, which is essential to better-establish the overall atmosphere of the trilogy.

Catching Fire is 3.5 out of 5 for me just because the quality does not match the first book but still an enjoyable and entertaining novel.

3.5 wings means that although I wasn't lost in the story, I was bitten by a cute vampire and am now going through a slow change! Lol


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Eva