Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

Oh, you think I’m doing one of my rare re-reads? Nope. I am one of the very few people born after 2019 who hasn’t read The Hunger Games series. I have watched the movies multiple times. My daughter really liked the books and encouraged me to check them out. After finishing The Wheel of Time series last year, I’m keeping the ball rolling with finishing more.

Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten For Fiction.

“A violent, jarring, speed-rap of a novel that generates nearly constant suspense. . . . I couldn’t stop reading.” –Stephen King

About The Book 📚

Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publication Date: first published 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: Young Adult, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi

Pages: 391

Content Warnings: abuse, alcoholism, animal death, child death, death of a parent, drug use, murder, grief, gore, mental illness, profanity, police brutality, pregnancy, self-harm, suicide, torture, violence.

About The Author

1991 started writing for children’s television
“Her first picture book, WHEN CHARLIE MCBUTTON LOST POWER, about a boy obsessed with computer games, was illustrated by Mike Lester and came out in 2005.”
Wrote The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games.
“In September 2013, Suzanne released a critically acclaimed autobiographical picture book, YEAR OF THE JUNGLE, illustrated by James Proimos.”
https://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

My Review

› I didn’t take notes while reading the second book of The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, so I’m unsure how much I will have to say. This young adult dystopian novel begins shortly after Katniss and Peeta have returned home to District 12 following their win. Katniss should be feeling on top of the world yet her relationships with Gale and Peeta are complicated and she has PTSD (not labelled in the book that I can remember, however, it’s obvious that the trauma from the game has impacted her mental health in a big way). Peeta has an artificial leg now, which wasn’t portrayed in the movies. I usually hate love triangles, however, this one is well done. I’m hoping she doesn’t choose either to be honest though. I’d like to see her stand on her own until the very end – however the trilogy ends.

“Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem.”

› There is talk of a rebellion against the Capitol happening in other districts and Katniss is trying to find out if that’s true. She’s also trying to uncover what happened to District 13. President Snow continues being a douche and gives Katniss an ultimatum that she and Peeta need to convince all of Panem that they are deeply in love (he doesn’t want anyone to realize Katniss lied about the romance to save Peeta) or he will kill Gale.

“You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.”

› The 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games (called the Quarter Quell) is approaching and it’s expected to be a high-stakes game with a twist.

“The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol’s plans. The symbol of the rebellion.”

› One of the reasons I didn’t take any notes was that I didn’t want to put it down. There’s always something happening to move the plot forward. I love the characters and the setting of the new arena. The writing style is simple, yet impactful. I think the sentence construction lends this to be an easy, quick read for most readers.

› Tropes
– Protagonist is an outsider
– Love Triangle
– The Chosen One
– Good vs Evil
– First Love
– Power Obsession
– Lottery that determines your life
– Oppressive government
– Loss of individualism
– Scarce resources
– Education Bans
– Resistance
– Cloning

› I usually give a rating out of ten and convert that to a star rating, but I’d like to try a new way of doing reviews. I’m not going to give a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• Catching Fire is an incredible sequel about survival, friendship, family, resilience and rebellion. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read these books. If you haven’t read them yet – check it out. They are extremely popular so it should be easy to find them at your library, used book store, or local book store. I recommend this book to readers 13 years old +