Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. …
Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.
(front flap)
I kind of see why I had zero memory of this book compared to the first. There are two standout scenes I really, really love, but the rest of it has already turned into brain soup.
The Katniss vs. Snow scene at the beginning is great. I love the tension, the intense rose/blood imagery that Snow gets. He’s a fun villain!
I will be forever chasing that bombshell weight of that Peeta interview reveal line as well. That hit like a truck.
But everything else is just kinda… eh? I don’t like Gale. I couldn’t tell you why. He just sort of annoys me, so the love triangle between him and Katniss and Peeta doesn’t really give me much other than a dull yawn.
However, for a YA? The pro-direct action messaging is really nice.
I appreciate that the book has some more fun SF world-building, but it suffers from a lot of repetitiveness. I guess it is necessary to set the stage for the final book in the trilogy, but too much time is spent re-hashing plot points from the first one. The romance is a bit frustrating, but that is excusable since this is a children's book.
menudo re-read,, el poder leer el final ya entendiendo lo que iba a suceder? mucho mejor. recuerdo cuando lo leí en su día que no me enteré de nada, como ocurre todo en dos páginas y media más o menos... pero eso, que muy disfrutable, no os voy a mentir
I'll have to go back and see what I rated [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275334s/2767052.jpg|2792775] but I think I enjoyed Catching Fire more. Maybe it's because it's been so long since I've read the first in the trilogy but I was completely involved in this story and enjoyed the political aspects and the alliance between the victors. And I swear I never thought I'd like Peeta but I did.
The only thing that I didn't like very much was the choice of narrator. I'd go 4.5 but rounding up.
Ok, I'm off to start [b:Mockingjay|7260188|Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)|Suzanne Collins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358275419s/7260188.jpg|8812783].
May 2014: 2nd reading, still 4 stars. I have since seen the first two movies. I hadn't realized how much the second film omits until I reread it. At least 2/3 of the book takes place outside the arena (in District 12, in the other districts on the victory tour, in the capitol, in the training center), with only a short section of the book taking place in the arena. Which makes sense, given that the time spent in the arena is so brief; only a few days, versus a couple weeks in a typical year, according to the book.
Whereas a much bigger section of the second film takes place in the arena. Which also makes sense, given that they assembled a pretty amazing supporting cast who needed something to do to justify their presence. It made for a very watchable film …
First read in November 2011. 4 stars.
May 2014: 2nd reading, still 4 stars. I have since seen the first two movies. I hadn't realized how much the second film omits until I reread it. At least 2/3 of the book takes place outside the arena (in District 12, in the other districts on the victory tour, in the capitol, in the training center), with only a short section of the book taking place in the arena. Which makes sense, given that the time spent in the arena is so brief; only a few days, versus a couple weeks in a typical year, according to the book.
Whereas a much bigger section of the second film takes place in the arena. Which also makes sense, given that they assembled a pretty amazing supporting cast who needed something to do to justify their presence. It made for a very watchable film -- I remember thinking it was a better film than the first one.
The sappy teenage love triangle is escalated to pretty ridiculous heights in Book 2. But with all the pre-arena time to fill, Book 2 also emphasizes a slow burn political plot, which (for me at least) is more interesting reading than Death Arena v2.0. It makes for a nice contrast with Book 1, which is essentially All Arena All The Time. The books are distinguished in a way that the films aren't.
If you haven't read Hunger Games, then stop now; you need to go back and read it! This book is a sequel to Hunger Games, and, unlike some sequels, it really depends on the previous book. That said… When I first started reading this, I wondered if I had rated its prequel to highly. As I got into it, I realized that I hadn't. But the two books really do depend on each other. This particular book helps complete the story from the first, although the cliffhanger ending of this reminds the reader that the third book is definitely needed to round out the story. I guess that'll be the next book I read… This book really does pick up at the end of Hunger Games with the continuation of the story. The personalities and characters follow and continue from the original; the characters are true. The story …
If you haven't read Hunger Games, then stop now; you need to go back and read it! This book is a sequel to Hunger Games, and, unlike some sequels, it really depends on the previous book. That said… When I first started reading this, I wondered if I had rated its prequel to highly. As I got into it, I realized that I hadn't. But the two books really do depend on each other. This particular book helps complete the story from the first, although the cliffhanger ending of this reminds the reader that the third book is definitely needed to round out the story. I guess that'll be the next book I read… This book really does pick up at the end of Hunger Games with the continuation of the story. The personalities and characters follow and continue from the original; the characters are true. The story itself is intricate and complex enough that it really is not the same story as is told in the prequel. At the end, several questions that were raised in the mind of the reader to during the story were answered, but I'm not yet convinced that the answer is totally satisfying (thus the need to finish the series…). This skill of the author to weave and tell a tale that's totally engaging is not quite as clear in this book as the previous, which is not to say that it's not worth the time. The intricacies of the game are intriguing and captivating, although it's clear that the point of the author in this book is quite different than her point in the first. It's clear that the point of this one is really to give a segue into the end. It's a reasonable segue, but it does feel more like a segue than a complete story in and of itself. I still found myself always anxious for more during each of my own forced breaks. I would like to rank it 3 1/2 stars as opposed to three or four.
Review of 'Catching Fire Movie-Tie-in-Edition [Paperback] [Nov 10, 2014] SUZANNE COLLINS' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The second installment in the Hunger Games trilogy is exactly the same as the first. The style is as plodding and functional as the first novel and the narrative twists and turns as predictable. The concept is still interesting but the writing brings down a good idea.
Review of 'Catching Fire Movie-Tie-in-Edition [Paperback] [Nov 10, 2014] SUZANNE COLLINS' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This was a close call between a 3, 3.5 & a 4. Mixed feelings. XD
Fair warning: Major cliffhanger ending. If you can't handle that, don't purchase unless you have this and the next book waiting for you. Otherwise, carry on!
It's the life of a Victor for Peeta, Katniss and District 12. The first half of the book focuses on adjusting to life back home with a new head Peacekeeper, Gale and Peeta competing for Katniss in their own passive aggressive ways, A Victory tour of all Districts, Wedding plans, and of course: President Snow. The second half takes us back into the games the series is known for & more light on the rebellion.
Just going to get this out of the way: Didn't like this one as much as the first. If we're being honest? I was almost a little bored up until we got to the …
This was a close call between a 3, 3.5 & a 4. Mixed feelings. XD
Fair warning: Major cliffhanger ending. If you can't handle that, don't purchase unless you have this and the next book waiting for you. Otherwise, carry on!
It's the life of a Victor for Peeta, Katniss and District 12. The first half of the book focuses on adjusting to life back home with a new head Peacekeeper, Gale and Peeta competing for Katniss in their own passive aggressive ways, A Victory tour of all Districts, Wedding plans, and of course: President Snow. The second half takes us back into the games the series is known for & more light on the rebellion.
Just going to get this out of the way: Didn't like this one as much as the first. If we're being honest? I was almost a little bored up until we got to the games portion of the book after the 60% marker.
I know it served the purpose of set up--giving us hints at more going on with the rebellion, the Mockingjay set ups, the conspiracies, Katniss' feelings for Gale and Peeta, etc.--for the final book, but it was still a bit flat. I can't put my finger on 'why' either, other than while it was well written, and interesting to a degree, it didn't capture my attention as much as preparing for the games did in the first novel.
Once they got to the games though, and introduced all the new folks--it picked right back up into the good stuff & I breezed through it. It was almost better than the first novel in that we got to see Katniss and Peeta interact with a larger group of people, in and out of the stadium. Finnick & Beejee in particular were fun and stood out the most to me.
I also enjoyed where the Peeta & Katniss romance went, and how it developed. Between the wedding, both of them trying to be selfless, and just the natural attraction and potential between them--not to mention determination to keep the other alive during the game--was probably the most interesting part of the book. Again--I'm fairly certain The Hunter Games series is a romance (possibly a tragedy depending on the ending) with a little dystopia on the side to distract you. :P
And then of course we end on our cliffhanger--and a confirmation of what I figured out, but it was about time for them to tell the main character, too. One word: Communication. It's a good thing. Spoiler:Not telling Katniss & Peeta about the escape plan was well, kinda jerkish on everyone's front. Especially when characters like Johanna lead me to believe they thought Katniss was in on it--when she had no clue what was going on. What if she had just decided to kill everyone? Then what? I can kinda see their reasoning (Haymitch: "This is why no one lets you make the plans."), but it soured my opinion on a few of our major players.
Either way, on board for [b:Mockingjay|7260188|Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1294615552s/7260188.jpg|8812783] and seeing how that's going to turn out.
One of my chief criticisms of the first installment was the complete lack of pacing and sense of time. I don't know if Collins improved on that front or I just accepted it and moved on.
The characters are really engaging (though the whole Gale/Peeta thing feels a bit too much like a Edward/Jacob relationship). The effects of violence in the society are really felt by the characters and the turmoil of the characters comes across better than most attempts in young adult fiction.
This is the sort of series that if you've made it through the first book, you'll want to see how it ends. The second book doesn't disappoint in that respect.
