Catching Fire Book Review

After my previous review of The Hunger Games, I took a few days to gather my thoughts about the next book in the series, Catching Fire.  Catching Fire in the middle of an obvious trilogy, and, as I find common with trilogies, is probably the weakest of the three.  Don't get me wrong, it's still a good, enjoyable read.  But it falls decidedly short of the first book.  As with my last review, this will be spoiler free if you've read the first book.


Catching Fire comes to us in three distinct parts: the Victory Tour, the preparation for the 75th Hunger Games, and the Games themselves.  Katniss is still adjusting to her life back in District 12 when President Snow shows up.  His creepyness is palpable, and his rosy bloodstained scent makes him that much worse.  He knows things he shouldn't be able to know about Katniss, specific things that happened in the woods outside of District 12.  He makes it very clear that the only reason her and Peeta have been allowed to live is because the people love them.  With some unsettling comments about conditions in other districts, Katniss and Peeta are off to relive their whirlwind love and remind the citizens of Panem that the Hunger Games are still alive and well.

After leaving District 12, the first location the duo visit (team in tow, of course), is District 11, Rue's home.  Katniss doesn't know what to say to the families of the dead tributes, but winds up making a very moving speech.  Instead of placating the crowd, Katniss only manages to embolden the people.  Members of the gathering are shot by several peacekeepers, showing that the game here is not the same as it is in District 12.  After returning to District 12, Katniss goes out to hunt, meeting mysterious refugees from District 8.  They say that they are headed to District 13 and share the rumors they have heard.  In news reels from the Capitol, the footage of District 13 never changes.  Katniss dismisses some of their talk, but she still questions whether a secret district could actually exist.

The second part of the book follows the preparations for the third Quarter Quell.  Although I loved the idea of a Quarter Quell, I felt like it was an afterthought added after the first Hunger Games book.  Collins has said that she always intended it to be a trilogy, but if the Quarter Quell were mentioned in the first book, I would have felt it would be more believable.  Special punishment is included in the Hunger Games every 25 years, to remind the citizens of Panem just how lucky they are to still be alive.  The 25th Hunger Games had citizens of the districts vote on children as tributes instead of the usual lottery, while the 50th had twice the tributes.  It seems as though the mandate for the 3rd Quarter Quell comes at too fortunate a time for the politics of the capitol to be coincidence.

I don't want to go more into the plot, as I feel that'd give too much away.  However, I will say this: this book sets up the final novel, the conclusion.  This Games, the last third of the novel, is not as shocking as the first, possibly because the reader knows what to expect.  There are clever terrors invented, but the real payoff does not come until the end.  Katniss has grown in some ways; she has decided to throw all of herself at one cause, but she still allows herself to be manipulated and a pawn.  Secondary characters are much more interesting in this book, with the exceptions of Katniss's mother and Prim, who remain blandly flat. 

I missed a few thing from this book.  I wanted the Victory Tour to go on longer, and I wanted to know more about the other districts.  Katniss goes numb on the trip, and while Peeta says all the right things, she seems to say all the wrong.  The idea that Katniss should be choosing between Peeta and Gale seems contrived as well.  Peeta, the boy who will always love her, who supports Katniss, is apparently not the yin to her yang, but Gale doesn't seem to fit either.

Although the book is good, the only reason I would consider it a rereadable book is because it is stuck between two stronger ones.  The first book is wonderful: suspenseful, well-written, and gory.  The second has slightly less of each.  Mockingjay is good too, and really does need the setup from Catching Fire, but some of the best parts seemed to get lost.

The Hunger Games review: May the odds be ever in your favor!

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here, and part of that has to do with the sheer volume of what I’ve been reading recently.  So, you can soon expect some interesting reviews within the next few weeks.   I’d like to start with what’s absolutely the freshest in my mind, The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.  I read them all in a week.  This review is for The Hunger Games, the first book in the series, but there will be reviews for Catching Fire and Mockingjay later in the week, which will have spoilers for previous books.  This review is spoiler free.

The Hunger Games starts in one of my favorite settings: the dystopian future.  Panem stands where North America once did, centuries after some unknown global war.  Composed of a gleaming Capitol and 12 subservient districts, each with a unique industry meant to serve the nation as a whole, Panem went through the “Dark Days” about 75 years before the novel, when a 13th district tried to rebel.  Each remaining district is now required to provide two children, a girl and a boy, between the ages of 12 and 18 through a lottery to battle to the death annually, so the districts will never forget the power the Capitol holds over them.  This lottery is far from a fair system, however, as poor children can take extra entries in exchange for food for their families. The Hunger Games are mandatory television throughout the nation, with each child growing up knowing they could be fighting to the death as young as 12.