Catching Fire: The Hunger Games, Book 2
4.7 | 82,983 ratings
Price: 19.27
Last update: 01-30-2026
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- H. ChenDo you know how freaked out I am??Of course you don't. But after receiving this book in the mail today, I got so excited, I immediately plopped down on to the couch (after five minutes of difficulty in opening the package), planning to read the entire book through without any interruptions. Of course, that didn't work out, what with dinner, and phone calls, and such, but I couldn't care less, because this sequel makes me want to explode.
In a good way.
I have been waiting for this book for such a long time, and so I read the entire book today, the day I got it. And I honestly have on idea where to begin. I don't want to mention any spoilers in this review, but it's not hard not to, so I AM going to mention spoilers from the first book, The Hunger Games, so I wouldn't advise reading this review if you haven't read the first book in the trilogy.
So... let's start with the beginning, which isn't really much of a spoiler. Katniss sits in the woods, on the day of the Victory Tour, reflecting on everything that's happened to her since the Games, and all the new developments. She's got so much to juggle on her plate, and, thanks to her new home and new riches, which are all prizes and rewards for winning the last Hunger Games, she's got plenty of time to think about it. Before the Games, she spent all her hours combing the woods, hunting illegally for food, lest she and her family starve to death. Now, with all the newly gained riches, she doesn't need to hunt. With all that time left over, all she can think about is how complicated her life has gotten since the Games.
And that same day, just before the Victory Tour, she gets a surprise visitor, and, suddenly, things get even more complicated, but now, they get dangerous, and not just for her, but her family and friends, who could be killed if she makes one wrong move during the Tour.
Okay, enough with the summarizing, let's get to the review. Since the last book left off where it did, I was immediately hooked upon this book, clinging to every detail, reading so fast, I had to go back a couple of times so that I could understand a sentence. And starting from the end of Chapter 1, things started to get interesting (remember the surprise visitor?). This entire book is nothing but twists and turns that readers can hardly anticipate. I'm continually impressed by Ms. Collins and her ability to lead the readers one way, but suddenly throw them off completely by introducing yet another startling... er... revelation? At any rate, this book moves along so quickly (especially in the second half) and for some reason, the humor just gets cranked up and I can't help laughing, especially at the interviews, though they weren't really that funny (don't dwell too much on that last part of the sentence, because there's a tiny spoiler there).
Okay, so I'm probably making it sound like I think this book is perfect. It IS extremely well written, the emotions are strongly conveyed, and the reader can easily get lost in to this book. The one confusing thing in the book is how much new characters are introduced. Some are easier to remember, like Plutarch Heavensbee (though I'm not sure if I spelled that right) or Finnick, but others, like Brutus (I'm not even sure if that's the right name), are harder to remember. But if you're not too lazy, it's less confusing when you reread the book (though I haven't done that yet).
Okay, and now for the big finish, in both this review, and in Catching Fire. I DID NOT SEE THAT ONE COMING. Okay, maybe, I did, just a little. But still, even if I could've predicted that, it still leaves you in absolute shock, making you stare at the book, mouth gaping, for at least a full thirty seconds (that is, of course, unless you have a heads-up, like I did). The Hunger Games left off at the train station, with Katniss confused about her feelings towards Peeta. CF, on the other hand, well, this leaves off with a total cliffhanger. Not that the Hunger Games didn't, but CF is different than THG. What I mean, is that the last sentence in the book reveals something so shocking and astonishing, it's like being doused in water while sleeping - just so abrupt. It is a bit of an odd place to stop the book, but just the fact that... Wow, it's really hard not to say a thing about it, but let's just say that, that it's unexpected.
Though it is pretty clever. A sure fire way to get people to read the next book, unless people hate this one. But with a cliffhanger like that, even if I hated this book, I would feel compelled to read the next book, because I would never be able to keep myself hanging like that. It's like I NEED to read the next book because, if I don't, I'll forever wonder what in the world just happened. Five stars for being witty, well-written, unexpected, and overall, just wonderful. - tylerruddhallThe best of the threeThe second book or movie in a trilogy is usually the weakest of the three. This is true for almost every trilogy except for the original Star Wars, where Empire Strikes Back is the best of all the movies. After a perfectly average opening to The Hunger Games I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of the rest of the series. The only reason I kept reading was because I bought a kindle. This book was only seven bucks and near the top of the list in the kindle store so I figured "why not."
Now I can think of two trilogies where the second book is the best of the series, Star Wars and The Hunger Games.
Catching Fire kind of cheats though because it has two climaxes. For some reason that escapes me, the book one climax is in the beginning of book two. The book one climax occurs when Snow is talking to Katniss in her new house. It's a solid scene and made me excited to read the rest of the book. It's the scene that needed to end off the first book so that I would have been more eager to read the rest of these kid killing stories.
The plot of the second book starts out with Katniss and Peeta (still the worst character names of all time, especially Pita Pit Peeta as I call him) going around to all the districts on a victory tour after winning the Hunger Games. I loved where it was going with this. They started at district 11 and what happened there was the most solid story telling in the trilogy. The only other comparable scene was at the beginning of this book with Katniss and Snow. If this is what happened at the first district then I couldn't wait to see what happened in the other districts. Too bad they don't really talk about it too much. Everything gets skimmed over.
This is the beginning of a trend that plagues the rest of the books. Skimming. Instead of saying what goes on she just sums things up so that you know all the important parts and she can spend some unnecessary time trying to make me care if Katniss ends up with Peeta or the other guy. I'm sure he has a name but his role in the books is "the other guy." The skimming isn't as bad in Catching Fire but in the third book it is beyond an acceptable level.
Despite this there are still lots of things to love about this book. Of course Katniss and Peeta end up back in the games fighting for their lives. I knew this would happen before I read the book. It's on the back cover isn't it? So I wasn't excited because I wasn't sure how the stakes could be raised any higher than they were the first time.
The author was able to do that by, surprise surprise, being creative with the arena the game was being played in. The arena was amazingly entertaining compared to the first book where the location barely had a factor in how the game was played.
She also raised the stakes by complicating the relationships between the people playing the game. Using the old victors as the tributes raised the stakes because they all knew each other and some were even good friends, but the added factor was that some of them weren't playing the game the way the Capital thought they were playing. It's all a little complicated. I don't expect you to understand what's going on. The protagonist doesn't even understand what's going on half the time.
I love the very last line of the book. It sets up a massive cliff hanger which was absolutely perfect and ended the book on just the right level of hopelessness that the second part of any three part story needs.
The Hunger Games in Catching Fire are the best of the series. The climax at the end of the book is the best of the series. The characters are the least annoying in this book. The settings are the most interesting, and finally, and most importantly the story is the most entertaining.