Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Katniss and Peeta are embarking on their victory tour. Having won the hunger games they should be safe but there are rumours of an uprising and Katniss is at the heart of it which puts her in even more danger.

Having finished The Hunger Games I jumped straight into Catching Fire, I wasn’t too sure where it was going to go but was interested to see what would happen to Katniss after winning the Hunger Games and I wasn’t disappointed. The book begins about six months after the events of The Hunger Games.

Again the book was pacy and action packed and I read it pretty much all in one sitting. We saw the return of many key characters and the introduction of some new ones which was interesting. The ending is a cliff hanger so straight onto book three for me. (I’m glad I’m reading them all at once, I’d hate to have to wait for the next one to be released)!

Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games

Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, an area of the country that was previously North America but is now known as Panem. Every year the Capitol run the Hunger Games. A brutal reality TV show where the participants aged between 12 and 18 are picked by lottery from the surrounding districts to compete to the death. The last person alive is declared the winner. When Katniss’ sister is picked to take part Katniss volunteers to take her place and begins the battle for her life in the arena.

I had heard a lot about The Hunger Games so when I saw the books on special offer I bought them and jumped them to the top of my to read list. I read a little bit of YA but not a huge amount. Most of the time when reading YA I personally feel it suffers for it and would be better had it been written as an adult book. With The Hunger Games I would say the opposite is true, it works perfectly as it is and it would have suffered had it been written for adults.

Katniss is an interesting character, flawed but likeable, tough but not without weakness. The other supporting characters are also good, I did find Peeta a little annoying though! The story is fast paced, I pretty much sat and read it in one sitting. I liked the imagery of the future world and the difference in living conditions between the Capitol and the districts.

It's straight on to book two for me, looking forward to finding out what happens!