Summary:
Catching Fire is the sequel to the Hunger Games, making it the second book in the famous trilogy. It takes place in a dystopian society—called Panem–long after the society we have now crumbles. There is one president, and the rest of the government workers are just known as people in the Capitol. There are twelve districts, each one making something important to contribute to the society as a whole.
Katniss Everdeen is from District 12—the mining district. Every year, the Capitol sponsors events called the Hunger Games. Each person’s name is entered into a raffle, and two people from each district are pulled. They are called “tributes,” and they are forced into an arena to fight to the death. The winner receives a lot of food for their District, and they also get to move into a fancy new house.
In the first book, Katniss’s sister, Primrose Everdeen, got pulled for the raffle, and Katniss, not wanting to see her hurt, then volunteered as the female tribute for District 12. Peeta Mellark, the local baker’s son, was also drawn from the names. For the Hunger Games, they didn’t really get along at first, and Katniss attempted to kill everyone on her own. When Peeta was injured, she swooped in to help, but they knew that only one person was to make it out alive. By the time they killed the last person, they made a vow to die at the same time by eating berries that were known as poisonous. As they did this, the Headmaster of the Hunger Games announced that there could be two winners because they were from the same district. So, they both got out alive. They blamed the suicide pact on being in love with each other and not seeing the other one to die, but the reader quickly finds out that it’s a hoax, and they aren’t really in love. The important thing is, they won the games together and they found a loophole.
This finally brings us into the second book, which takes place approximately a year after the Hunger Games that Peeta and Katniss won. They both got new houses, as well as their mentor Haymitch. They pretty much lived in luxury as far as the District was concerned. Katniss and Peeta went to different ceremonies and such, promoting the Hunger Games.
Things only got odd when the president of Panem, President Snow, appeared at Katniss’s doorstep one afternoon. He told Katniss that he didn’t believe in the romance that Katniss and Peeta supposedly shared, and that he knew that she was into her best friend, Gale Hawthorne. Every Sunday, Gale and Katniss would hunt together, and one day, they happened to kiss. He pretty much threatened her and said that he wants her to make him and the Capitol believe the love story.
When Katniss told Peeta, he was scared; however, at the next showing, he proposed to Katniss—stunning the audience.
Hell only broke loose when President Snow proposed that for the 75th Hunger Games featured all of the past tributes that have won past Hunger Games. This meant that Peeta and Katniss must go back into the ring once more—and they’ll make sure that only one victor comes out this time.
Review:
I read the first book in a day, and to be quite honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with the writing style, nor the story. It didn’t really come across as something remarkable, but I definitely grew a new appreciation upon seeing the movie (and might I add, Jennifer Lawrence was astounding). With the new Catching Fire movie coming out only weeks ago, I decided that I would try to read the accompanying novel and go from there. I was instantly sucked in.
This book offered something that the other book didn’t: believability. The other one just seemed so bogus with the way that it was executed, and of course, both of the main characters survived. Shocker. By the time I was finished the first book, I just shrugged and didn’t return to the series… Until now.
After reading Catching Fire, I was enthralled. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I fully intend on it now. Upon finishing the book, I picked up Mockingjay and started reading immediately. Usually, I write an article first, and then I continue to read, but this one was different.
Not only was there much more character development on behalf of all the characters involved, there was also a solid and believable plot that made sense in retrospect. When I figured out she was going into the arena once more, I felt that twinge of pain that I typically felt when I know something bad was going to happen.
Honestly, I’m not going to go deep into detail about the plot, but I will heavily recommend this book to anyone needing something new and good to read. Chances are, though, if you were going to get interested in the series, it would have happened by now. But if, by chance, you’re a late bloomer like me, then I suggest that this is really something you should consider.
Overall:
What I liked: Character development, plot, and believability.
What I didn’t like: The writing style. But when you can get past that, it’s honestly a good, solid book.
Grade: A
simple little reviews 