Catching Fire

Written by: Suzanne Collins

This second book in the "Hunger Games" trilogy picks up, almost literally, where the first book left off.

Katniss has returned to her home in District 12, survivor of the brutal Hunger Games. But there are rumors of uprisings in other districts inspired by her acts of defiance against the cruel Capitol. President Snow puts pressure on Katniss to smooth things over. But when she fails to do so, he uses his power to call Katniss for the extra-brutal "Quarter Quell" edition of the Hunger Games. How will she fare against in another game of life-or-death against other Hunger Games survivors? And will she be able to survive now that President Snow needs her dead in order to retain control of the dissenting districts?

I'm not going to lie - I was very disappointed in this book. To be honest (and, hey - spoilers ahead), most of this book is a re-hashing of the first book. First, there are the constant reflections and reminders of what happened in the first book. Then, there is literally another edition of the Hunger Games. Granted, there are a few twists, but it felt very derivative of the original. Never before has a sequel felt so directly reliant on the original.

To continue piling on the negatives: The romantic triangle dilemma that Katniss finds herself in, caught between Peeta and Gale. Honestly, neither of the male characters have much definition, and there's no clear reason to pick one over the other. Rather, Peeta and Gale seem to be slightly altered mirror images of each other. A role of the dice could make the decision, and would probably be the best strategy.

Once you get through all the negatives, though, there's a skeleton of a good novel here. As soon as the Quarter Quell begins, the story becomes filled with action - and so takes off. Collins should stick with the action sequences, as Katniss's internal struggles merely bog the novel down.

Honestly, I felt this novel was just filler material between the first novel and the conclusion. I'm not sure how much it added to the story material. The twist conclusion - which, by far, was the best part - felt somewhat like an excuse to get Katniss from Point A to Point C.