Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Pages: 391
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Format: Paperback
Published by Scholastic
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Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before... and surprising readers at every turn.

This book was a spectacular follow up to The Hunger Games. The end of The Hunger Games washed a sense of relief over me as I got the ending I was hoping for all along. The action picked up rather quickly after a brief setting of the scene. Every sliver of relief is very soon thrown aside as Katniss and Peeta are plunged back into the horror exponentially worse than the first book. Katniss and Peeta are called back into the Hunger Games by a twist of events. President Snow does not like Katniss and every reader can tell! The contempt seeps through the pages. The 75th Hunger Games is a special anniversary called a Quarter Quell and the entertainment is supposed to be far greater for those watching the games.

I could not put down this book. At. All. The characters introduced in this book are just fabulous and Katniss does not know who to trust or who to kill. Finnick quickly becomes my favourite as his charm is funny and endearing and his past makes him extremely likeable. Whispers of rebellion trickle through the Districts and Peeta and Katniss' refusal to give in inspires the readers as well as the fictional hopeful rebels. However, this ain't no fairytale. The plot begins raging out of control (in a fabulous way) as Katniss feels the rebellion creeping up on her heels watching every move she makes. Whatever sense of responsibility Katniss felt for the hope of the Districts is proven to be far greater than she expected.

Peeta makes me like him even more. His emotional strength and love for Katniss has absolutely no bounds in this book. I admire his determination and wrinkle my nose at Katniss' inability to see how much he loves her. Yes, Gale quickly becomes a stronger suitor in this second instalment than in the first, but I can tell you that I'm definitely a Team Peeta supporter!

This book is nonstop action and absolultely brilliant. I don't think this book is as jaw-droppingly fantastic as the first, but the cliffhanger ending will leave every reader begging for the third book and proclaiming this series as fantastic.