Customer Reviews

Catching Fire (Hunger Games Trilogy)

Soon to be a major film series. Something I found out after reading the first one. I can see it being a good film, although reading up on that and the books more, it seems this series is less of a hit with the male population - on the premise that this book mentions romance.

So, to clarify. I'm a man. I'm not young adult, and I'm not one for reading romance novels. The Twilight series are just wrong in my opinion.

Now we've established that, I can hopefully persuade you that these books are not romance novels. Nor are they just for kids.

This book picks up a few months after the close of the first (The Hunger Games). Peeta and Katniss are still playing up their romance for the Capitol crowds, and getting ready for their tour of the districts. But word is spreading of an uprising in the districts, and now President Snow is looking for blood.

I won't go in to more detail about the plot - you can read that in the product details above, and to be honest, if you've read the first book, and are already here - why haven't you bought this yet?

I've read some reviews saying this book isn't as good as the first one. I disagree, partly. The plot, and the writing are as good, if not better than the first. It lets itself down slightly by The Games being not as involved as the first book - but then I don't think they really are meant to be. They serve their purpose to get us to the start of book 3 (Mockingjay (Hunger Games)), and they do it well.

If you have read the first book, you should read this right now. You'll enjoy it, I promise. If you haven't read the first book, you need to go do that before reading this one.

I for one, am off to the third book.

So, the 'Hunger Games'. What a blazing book that was; 'Battle Royale' meets 'Big Brother'. But the first book only really got the story started. The main attraction of the book were the Games themselves, and only tantalising glimpses of the dystopian world were given.

In Catching Fire, we delve deeper into the history and mystery of this futuristic world. We learn a a few things about how Panem came to be, but also many more questions are raised. Did you think things would become less complicated for Katniss and Peeta after the Games ended? Far from it. Everything becomes far more complicated, and events spiral beyond their control.

The genuinely terrifying President Snow, a snakelike being who smells of blood and roses, is as threatening and hateful when he's not present as when he is. He's angry at our heroes, and getting angrier by the day as the unrest in the downtrodden districts grow. Katniss and Peeta are playing figurative chess with their lives as well as their loved ones. But there seems to be no escaping the power of Snow, and the revenge he brings crashing down upon them is horrific, devastating and, I will admit, completely unexpected.

In fact, that's the whole thing about 'Catching Fire', although the first 'Hunger Games' was an excellent book, it was a little predictable. This isn't. Every chapter seems to end on a plot twist, and your breath will catch in your throat as you fear for what could happen next.

On the downside, 'Catching Fire' is the second part of a trilogy, traditionally the weakest book in three because it neither has the advantage of starting the story nor finish it. Stories are followed up from where they left off, and some are started but not finished, obviously ready for the final installment, but 'Catching Fire' doesn't feel like it's own book. Plus, you could practically split this book in half, each half in very different places, with different stakes and different characters, and both almost completely inconsequential of each other, so it can feel a bit...tacked on at times. Plus 'Catching Fire' does sometimes retread familiar ground, making it feel a bit lazy here and there.

But honestly, these are just nitpicks. If you liked the first book, as I did, then you'll be just as delighted (and terrified) by this one. And, without spoiling anything, the last few chapters could be some of the finest, scariest, most heart-stopping moments I've ever read, and left me gagging for the final book.

If 'Hunger Games' left you hungry for more, then 'Catching Fire' will set you ablaze. Essential reading, for young adults and adults too. Not for the faint-hearted!

Having survived the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is back home in Sector 12, not looking forward to her role as a mentor for the next year's games. She is surprised to hear rumours that her defiance of the Capitol and President Snow during the Games has sparked unrest and even discord in other sectors. When she and her co-winner, Peeta, conduct a tour of the districts, Katniss realises that her name and her emblem, the mockingjay, are being taken up as a symbol of rebellion and hope.

Determined to crush Katniss's influence, Snow arranges a special new Hunger Games event for the 75th anniversary of the games. All the living winners of the games must return to the arena for a fresh battle...

Catching Fire is the second volume of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins' highly successful, post-apocalypse, dystopian YA SF series. Collins never intended to write a trilogy, so Catching Fire has some work to do to set up a bigger storyline that will be resolved in the following novel, namely the move from merely being a story set in a dystopia to a more epic story about the overthrow of the oppressive government.

For these reasons Catching Fire has some issues. We're more than halfway through the novel before the second Hunger Games kick off, and we're not able to spend much time with those games before the conclusion arrives. This is a shame as Collins addresses some of the weaknesses of the first set of games, with many more contestants being identified and much better-characterised than first time around. The arena is also far more ingenious, with many more deadly traps. The games section of the novel and the conclusion are both rushed in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible before the final novel, which hurts the quality of this book.

That said, it's still a fast-paced, readable and enjoyable book. We see more of Panem and get more of a sense what life is like for people living there, which is essential to better-establish the wider backdrop of the series. On the characterisation front, Katniss isn't always a sympathetic protagonist and often makes mistakes, which makes her more relatable and real. Other characters, like Peeta and newcomers like Finnick, are also given some solid scenes and character-building moments. The mutual hatred and anger between Katniss and President Snow is also well-handled. However, the Capitol and its rulers are rather dense in this book. Everything they do seems designed to inflame the situation and further the rebellion, which is weird for people who've been in charge for a century and have used the Hunger Games as a form of propaganda and control for seventy-five years, which requires some savvy knowledge of media and PR. Instead, the plot feels set-up ahead of time and both the reader and the characters are along for the ride.

Catching Fire (***�) is a drop down in quality from The Hunger Games, but still an enjoyable and entertaining novel. It is available now in the UK and USA.

The sequel to the brilliant Hunger Games once more begins in district 12, a town torn apart by poverty, forever in fear of its rulers, The Capitol. After surviving The Hunger games, Katniss and Peeta live a life of luxury and wealth in glorious mansions, no longer afraid of starvation. But do not be lulled into the lie that this is a happy ending, no, Katniss must live a life of deception, convincing The Capitol that she is madly in love with Peeta when she infact has feelings for her life -long friend Gale or shall face the consequences which are frigteningly clear: She and all she loves shall die. In the first novel, you are reasured that none of her family will come to any harm and that the only ones in any signicant danger are Katniss and Peeta. There are no such reasurances in this novel, so in one respect this is a scarier novel than The Hunger Games.
In terms of structure, this is quite a different beast to The Hunger Games, for instance while in the first novel most time is spent on Katniss preparing for the games and the actual event, focussing on the tributes tactics including her own and the events within the games. Giving you only a brief introduction to District 12 itself. Catching Fire focuses on the events outside the arena and the possiblities of revolution. The actual games are a little rushed. There is far less blood letting in Catching Fire but do not be tempted into the notion that because there is less violence the book is in any way lighter than The Hunger Games, as with most trilogies, the books only get darker and this is a very unpredictable and unsettleing read. There are truck loads of suspense and you cannot stop asking yourself centillions of questions surrounding President Snow and his ruthless, uncaring government. I prefer The Hunger Games only by half an inch because it is a little more satisfying and reveals this cruelly imaginative world for the very first time. If I don't start reading Mocking Jay anytime soon I think my head might explode.

Found this book not nearly as good as the first book. A little confusing in places too. Hopefully the film will be better. Despite this I'm still looking forward to reading the third book.

First off, before I get chastised for the heading, this book was very good, but it could have been amazing given the introduction of several new much better rounded characters and an all singing all dancing super new arena in the shape of a clock. As others have alluded to, it was to put it crudely, somewhat of a "rush job".

I won't give a pointless synopsis of the book like so many insist on doing as it is available above. However what I will say is that Suzanne Collins clearly hadn't envisaged turning it into a trilogy and spent about half the book going on and on about life in district 12 post the games, I have to be candid here and say I struggled at times to keep interested. Katniss doesn't really develop as a character nor do the first games seem to have taught her much, she is still the same brash, reactive girl. I gave 5 stars to the original, so I was expecting so much more from the sequel, unfortunately it was not meant to be. It was only when the announcement for the second games finally came about did things start to get interesting again, although by that time so much time had been wasted talking about Katniss's pointless wanderings since her last games that the conclusion was rather hurried.

I have read all three of the books, and therefore I can say with confidence that this in my opinion was the weakest although its saving grace is that I don't really think it's a sequel, more a gap filler between the first and third books. This second book could easily have been amalgamated with the third to make 800 pages, which would have made much more sense to me, rather than waiting another year between them.

Still definitely a prerequisite read to the third if you want to finish the trilogy but just a little flat given the tools at the author's disposal after such a brilliant first introduction to Katniss and Panem.

Thank you for reading my review, enjoy!

Absolutely loved this book it was un- putdownable!!! glad I have the next one ready to read!! hope its as good..

I liked this however would imagine it's target audience to be early/mid teens? Am looking forward to the final book. It's a nice easy clean cut read that I would be happy to let my daughter read when she's a little older.

I suggest if you start reading this book you have a free day or two to yourself I personally could not put it down and enjoyed every second of reading it

Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and picks up a few months after the events of the first book. In this story Katniss has to attempt to settle back into as normal a life as she can after winning the Hunger Games and defying the capitol. Tensions are high because we know the capitol want to retaliate for Katniss and Peeta's defiance.

First of all, I think this book was better written than the first one. I absolutely loved the first book; such a fast paced and great story. I am a pretty slow reader but I got through it in just four days (While also doing some voluntary work in Rwanda, but that's another story...). This book was the same - fast paced, every chapter finishing on a bit of a cliffhanger, literally making you want to turn page after thrilling page.

My only problem with this book would be the final few chapters. The story just kind of stops after a while, and the ending came out of nowhere. If you couldn't physically see how many pages you have left to read I think you'd be very surprised at when this book ends. That being said, the ending is pretty exciting and I am looking forward to reading Mockingjay.

I think this book perhaps sets up the next story a little too much. No major life-changing events really happen to Katniss, although some things are yet to be resolved in book 3. The second part of a trilogy always seems to be my least favourite. Although Catching Fire was certainly not ever boring or badly written, I feel there could have been just that little bit more.

Actually, one other problem I have with this book and The Hunger Games as a whole is the character of Gale. We all know that Katniss is supposed to really care for him and he's a huge part of her life and feels guilty because of all the romance stuff with Peeta. But he is hardly in either book. So we as readers don't really feel much for him and kind of root for Peeta instead. Hopefullt we'll see much more of Gale in Mockingjay.

Anyway, good book, if you haven't read any of the Hunger Games yet I'd definitely recommend you start your Hunger Games journey with book 1 today!