Catching Fire
Ratings1,269
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings1,269
Average rating4.1
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy.
After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion.
The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Suzanne Collins continues the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire, the second novel of the phenomenal Hunger Games trilogy.
([source][1])
[1]: https://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/about-the-books.htm
Featured Series
3 primary books4 released booksThe Hunger Games is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2004 with contributions by Suzanne Collins. The next book is scheduled for release on 3/18/2025.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is going in my “was not expecting that” list. After coming to an abrupt and unexpected ending in The Hunger Games, I had no choice but to move swiftly to the next book. Ah, the benefits of reading popular series years after they were released! To put it simply, I was excited for Catching Fire because I thought the entirety of the book would take place during the Victory Tour. I imagined we would go with Katniss and Peeta to visit all of the other districts; we would get an inside peek at how they all work, their industries, the landscapes, what the people are like, and their relationship with the Capitol. I had a sort of anthropological curiosity about it.
But no, Catching Fire is not a travelogue of their trip round Panem. I was startled to find the Victory Tour over in a minute, and besides the fiasco in Rue's district, we didn't get much information on the other districts at all. It's interesting, because Katniss and Peeta have this newfound understanding of the other districts, at least on a superficial level. They have seen people gather, they have walked on a beach, they have gone across the whole country. Yet us readers are still pretty much left in the dark about what goes on in these places.
I think that ultimately us not coming along for most of the tour was beneficial, because our complete lack of knowledge about most of the districts mirrored Katniss's lack of real knowledge about the districts. Sure, she saw what their center squares were like, and she looked into the faces of a gathered crowd. But this is surface-level. What she really wants to know, and what I really want to know, are about the lives of these people. Are they as discontented with the Capitol as Katniss? What do they really think about the Games? Are they willing to rebel?
Our understanding of the situation in other districts doesn't come from their staged Victory Tour. No; it comes from the people we meet and the connections Katniss makes, which are woven tightly into the story as a whole. When we meet Bonnie and Twill, or accidentally see the news on the Mayor's television, or get to know Finnick and Beetee and Wiress, we begin to put the pieces together about the Districts they are from. Through these characters we get a far deeper understanding than if we simply witnessed Katniss and Peeta on the victory tour. Thus I am glad I didn't go along with them, because learning about the Districts through the characters was far more satisfying.
Oh yeah, and they go back into the arena. I most certainly didn't see that coming when I first picked up the book, but then I heard a sort-of-spoiler about it. I thought Ha! No way. Wouldn't Collins want to explore them in a different situation?
But the hints of the Quarter Quell were concerning. And then the yellow envelope came. If I hadn't heard the half-spoiler, my mouth would have dropped open. Maybe everyone else saw this coming. Alas, since the seed had been planted in my mind, I just thought, “Oh, wow, well, okay. Here we go again.”
It was more of my favorite: Katniss in the (simulated) wilderness, us discovering with her how this environment works, what in it will save her and what in it might kill her. Yet it had a whole other dimension, a different flavor, and different stakes. Finnick really grew on me. I hoped and hoped there would be a rebellion starting from within the arena (the only way it seemed both Peeta and Katniss could come out of this alive), but we're still too close to the events to understand how they will affect the greater whole. Everything is still so immediate. And then the book ends.
And yes, I was fooled again! You'd think I would have learned by now that the Hunger Games trilogy on Kindle does not end at 100%, because there is a preview of the next book to follow it. But no! I thought I had a whole 8% left!
“Katniss, there is no District Twelve.” THE END.
SUZANNE!!
Another fabulous page turner in this series.I didn't like Peeta & Katniss having to go back into the arena but oh, how it made those pages fly!And the ending...twist upon twist.Can't wait for [b:Mockingjay 7260188 Mockingjay (Hunger Games, #3) Suzanne Collins http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282388315s/7260188.jpg 8812783]'s release shortly!
Pacing is ridiculous, especially the ending. Could make a great movie but I don't trust Gary Ross et al to do it competently.
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