Catching Fire Review

Title: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: September 2009

Genre: YA

Main Themes: Death, Survival, Romance, Hunting, & Family

Pages: 391

Plot: (From the Dust Jacket)

     “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 long 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 has 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 of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before…and surprising readers at every turn.”

     This book was utterly engrossing, positively cruel, and intriguingly menacing.  I was entrapped after reading the first page and couldn’t stop until the last page as turned.  I was immediately tempted to pick up the third book and start that but I knew if I started I wouldn’t have it in me to stop until that one was finished too.

     Suzanne Collins had a brilliant writing style that ensnares you, holds you captive, and out all the places to leave you, she drops you on a cliffhanger!  With her exceptional story telling skills and vibrant characters, she creates a story that is astoundingly epic. 

     Out of all her remarkable characters there is one, of course, that stands out on her own.  She is Katniss, the symbol of the Mockingjay, which provides the citizens with hope for a better tomorrow and instills the courage needed to start a revolt against the capitol of Panem.  This stubborn and bullheaded girl fascinates me with her stamina, endurance, and bravery to fight for her beliefs.  I found on levels that she is someone I could relate to with her tomboyish abilities but also someone that I would also like to become more like myself.

     I felt I had no choice but to give this main-blowing novel an A+, as I found it gripping, all consuming, and truly riveting.  It was another book that had me laughing, crying, and horrified along with Katniss as her journey continued.  As this series is plowing its way into my favorites list, I hope that others out there pick up these books and give them a read because I’m positive that they will love them too!   

My Rating: 20/20

Originality: 5

Plot: 5

Characters: 5

Writing Style: 5