Catching Fire is the second in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. We catch up with our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, who, since her spectacular victory in the Hunger Games at the end of the previous book, is back home in District 12, living a much more comfortable life in terms of having more than enough food and living in a nice house with her mother and little sister. However, her personal life is not her own. Still having to maintain the pretence of being in love with her fellow victor, Peeta, she and her childhood friend Gael have grown apart. This is not helped when she and Peeta are forced to go on a victory tour at the behest of President Snow, who threatens all she loves if she does not play ball and do everything she can to help quell the unrest around the Districts. She plays her part well, but witnesses parts of the uprising and the swift injustice shown to those citizens involved. Back home, the grip from the Capitol tightens and Gael is brutally whipped. Katniss decides it is time to make a break for it with everyone she cares about ... but President Snow has other plans. It's the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games, and to celebrate, the participants are taken from all the previous victors, no matter what their age or state of health. Katniss and Peeta end up back in the games in a watery, new arena. This time, she is determined that if there is only to be one survivor, it will be Peeta. When unusual alliances form, and fellow competitors are helping her, instead of trying to kill her, Katniss struggles to get her head round this turn of events. Should she trust them (not her strong suit) or take the first opportunity to kill them and give Peeta better odds to come out of the Games alive?
This is an excellent sequel to the first book and leaves the reader on a fantastic cliff hanger. The dystopian world created by the author is a cruel and violent one, but the increasing number of small acts of kindness start to build traction, and it feels like the fight back against the oppressive Capitol is becoming inevitable, with Katniss becoming the poster girl for the rebellion. This is a swift paced book, with more than enough action to keep anyone interested. The only thing that lets this book down for me is the narrator, Carolyn McCormick, who has a bit of an unbalanced delivery for me. I am now hooked on finding out what happens and will be seeking out the final part. I also have a sneaky desire to watch the films too, to find out how they have portrayed the characters, the costumes and the action scenes.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 480 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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