Catching Fire (the Hunger Games #2)

 Synopsis

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 her 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 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 cares 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 continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.

Loved

• The twists! Wow, so I haven't read this book since the day it came out, and I remembered hardly anything about it. I had forgotten about all the twists and turns in the plot, and my jaw hit the floor at almost every chapter ending. As I said in my review of the first book, the only way to describe the plot is that is moves at break-neck speed, but not so fast that we are confused or can't keep up. It's the perfect pace to keep your heart racing- and don't even bother setting your hand down in between each page turn cause you'll be turning pages faster than you ever have before :)

• The love triangle. Okay, I first have to say: I HATE. DESPISE. LOATHE love triangles. In case it's unclear, I cannot stand love triangles. However, this one is different- (I know, that's what they all say, but hear me out)- because one of the romances happened as a life-saving measure, and it just gets complicated from there. I thought I remembered Katniss being annoying about going back and forth between Gale and Peeta, but it's really the boys that are pushing the relationship thing while Katniss is just trying to not get killed by the Capitol. I actually really enjoyed the tension among the three, and Katniss' confusion at her feelings for the two did not seem overly-dramatic or overdone like I had remembered it.

• The characters. Not to spoil in case you haven't read it, I won't talk about what happens in this book. But we do meet a whole new cast of characters, and I just loved them. Especially Finnick- can we just take a minute to appreciate the lovely human that is Finnick. I remembered that I loved him, but I had forgotten who he even was in the story, but I was not disappointed. All the new characters are vibrant, quirky, and it's hard not to love and cheer for them.

• The END. The ending was pretty much like reading this for the first time, because I remembered nothing about the last few chapters. I was shocked that the ending was AWESOME. I can't talk about it without spoiling, but it does not disappoint and leaves us with the best twist of the whole series.

Didn't Love

• In this story I started to remember why I thought I hated Katniss before re-reading the series. I still really liked her in this story, but I remembered why I had some angst toward her. She starts to become frustrating in this book because she is stubborn, confused, and so focused on survival at times that she *almost* loses some humanity. However, given the crazy trauma she's been through you can't blame her too much for her for being in total survival-mode.

Content

• Language: 
• A few uses of "damn" and "hell."

• Sexual content: 
• Two kisses with one character- not much described. More about the feeling behind the kiss.
• A bunch of kisses with another character. Most of it is staged. These two characters sleep in the same bed to avoid nightmares, but nothing sexual happens.
• Some characters act sensually around Katniss just for the fun of shocking her (kissing her on the mouth, walking around naked, and inciting innuendo).

• Violence:
• Again, there is NO shortage of gore and violence in this story. As I said in the review of the first book, it's not the violence itself that's so disturbing- but the fact that it's forced for a city's entertainment.
• Lots of killing and death. Characters killed through explosions, throat slashings, and getting stabbed. Blood described, but focus is on the emotion of watching the deaths rather than the wounds themselves.
• Lots of violence to suppress rebellion- people being shot and killed in public, people being beaten, and others getting whipped. One main character is whipped so much that he almost dies.
• Mentions of characters who are tortured and have their tongues cut out.
• Many mentions of past Hunger Games and horrendous things that happened- such as one character tearing out another's throat with her teeth.


• Other themes:
• As I said before, the violence itself is obviously disturbing, but the most gut-twisting element of this story is the fact that people are forced to kill each other for someone else's entertainment. This is evil and terrible, and it brings out the worst in many people. However, there are moments when characters show each other unexpected acts of kindness and humanity that are very moving in contrast to the blood-thirst of the Capitol. In this book we really get to see people taking a stand and trying to rebel against this evil.

Overall Thoughts

Wow. I just devoured this book shamelessly. I had forgotten pretty much everything about it except for the basic plot. There are so many twists and turns that had my jaw on the floor. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and read the book in two sittings. I absolutely loved the characters. Katniss bothered me a little, but I loved her strength and dry humor. And of course I loved Peeta's goodness and Gale's hardened resolve and complex personality. As I said before, I actually enjoyed this love triangle (that is something I NEVER thought I would say and don't tell anyone). But it worked in this story and it was just the right amount of frustrating without the drama being overdone. I loved the high stakes, break-neck speed, and nail biting intensity of every chapter. Usually the second book in a trilogy is my least favorite because it suffers from second-book-nothing-happens-except-plot-development-and-character-drama, but this book was completely rad and definitely my favorite of the series.