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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the second book in the
Hunger Games trilogy. The book starts with Katniss adjusting to her new life as
victor of the Hunger Games. As a winner of the Hunger Games, she gets to live
in a luxury home and has a large income. It is an enviable situation for
someone living in District 12, which is the poorest district in the nation of
Panem. Katniss would rather go back to her life before the Hunger Games, as she
is traumatized by the things that happened in the Games. Katniss is estranged
from Peeta, the other winner of the Hunger Games, after she admits that she was
pretending to love him to survive the Hunger Games.
Meanwhile, President Snow is dealing with uprisings in other
districts which he believes has been influenced by Katniss and Peeta. He
threatens Katniss to convince the other district that her final act in the Hunger
Games was an act of love and not an act of defiance against the government.
Unfortunately, Katniss and Peeta cannot stop the rebellion from happening.
Fortunately for President Snow, he has the opportunity to suppress the
rebellion through the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games.
It is
the Quarter Quell which happens every 25th year and allows for a
special edition of the Hunger Games to be played. In other Quarter Quells, they
had doubled the amount of Tributes into the games and voted Tributes into the
games. This time, past Victors must compete again in the Hunger Games. Katniss
is back in the Hunger Games again but this time she’s determined to keep Peeta
alive even if she must sacrifice herself.
I had watched the movie before reading this book so there
was no surprises for me. I still found the book thrilling despite knowing what was
going to happen. I liked the new dynamic of a new Hunger Games in this book
such as the new landscape and the Victors returning to the games. It was
interesting to read the history of the other Victors and how they won their
Hunger Games. They all had different strategies to wining their own games. Some
of them won through violence, while other hid and waited for everyone else to
die. If I were in the Hunger Games, my strategy would have been to hide and let
everyone else kill each other. I probably would not survive the games though.
I liked the new characters in this book and it was a pity
when some of them died. In particular, I liked all of Katniss’ allies who were
Finnick Odair, Mags, Johanna Mason, Beetee and Wiress. They all talents that
helped Katniss and Peeta survive the games. I wish there were spin off books
about the other Victors too.
It is in this book that Katniss decides that she is willing
to fight the government over the oppression of its citizens which continues
into the third book. I liked how initially, Katniss wanted to flee from her
responsibilities until she realized that the injustice would never end until
President Snow is overthrown. I also
liked the whirlwind of emotions that Katniss went through. I think it would
have been especially exciting had I not known the ending. In the book, Katniss
is paranoid about the allies she makes in the Hunger Games, when to break free
from them, how to keep Peeta alive and what the Gamekeepers planed to do.
I felt that the book up the ante and set up the feel for the
final book. It was just as exciting as the first book except that I knew what
to expect this time around. This book is not a standalone book so readers will
have to read the first book or at least have watched the movies to get a
clearer understanding of the book.
Sometimes, I have started book series not
from the first book because I didn’t know the book was part of a series and
other times because that was the book available at the library. Some books have a little exposition at the
start so I can get the gist of what happened previously, other times; I just look
it up on Wikipedia. I am looking forward
to reading the final Hunger Games book. I already know what’s going to happen.
I watched the movie some months ago but it’s still going to be an interesting
journey.
This is the only HG book I've not read, and ironically, I'm often told it's reader's favorite. Either way, overall, I much prefer the film adaptations, so if I don't get this one read, I'll be okay with it. :) Glad you liked it, Carlyn!
ReplyDeleteI like the film adaptions too, I even thought about whether I should even continue to read the books the books. The first book is my favourite so far.
DeleteI've never read or watched any of the Hunger Games, but your synopsis is fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI wrote it assuming that most people would know about the Hunger Games so I left out some background details. But I'm glad that you found it interesting despite not knowing anything about the books or movies.
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