#2 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)

by Suzanne Collins

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Just when I thought it was kind of safe Katniss' life goes to hell in a hand basket again. The Hunger Games are suppose to be over but her troubles are just beginning. Catching Fire does not skip a beat going into action with the despicable President Snow who has revenge on his hands setting his sights on retaliation for looking like a fool in the last Hunger Games. The solution, an All-Star Hunger Games requesting two winning Tributes from each district.

Despite my enjoyment for this book I am having a difficult time writing this review. Although not because I am finding it hard to relate my thoughts to type.

Before I get to The Hunger Games themselves I want to address the Gale/Katniss/Peeta love triangle. It's official, I'm a Peeta fan. Peeta is just so sweet and protective of her and sometimes I feel he is too good for Katniss. Gale on the other hand appears as an over-protective big brother. But I want to scream through book 1 and book 2 -- just get on with it already! Stop with the suspense and let Katniss come to her senses. It felt like Daisy and William's relationship in Downton Abbey (and for anyone not obsessed with that show ignore that last comment).

Now for my thoughts on the main event, -- "The Games" The stakes are higher having me read faster and faster at each page. I felt a comradely to all the participants on The Games hoping the odds would be with them all. I felt the characters bond together as they form the beginnings of a rebellion. I found the arena to be much more sophisticated and strategic. The first book in the trilogy had a Lord of the Flies vibe to it, where as Catching Fire seemed more mature, maybe because the contestants were more experienced. Anyway, alliances were made and quickly broken and there was this strange plot line about keeping Peeta alive, but wait, wasn't Katniss suppose to be the Mockingjay? What about her? The plot put me through a loop. I was very impressed by the second book in the Hunger Games as it showed not only what Peeta and Katniss were facing but also, what was at stake, with a Capital take over in the mist, it's outcome relying on Katniss, the Mockingjay. Because a sixteen year old with raging hormones doesn't have enough on her plate.