Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Age: YA

This is book two in the Hunger Games trilogy. If you haven't read the first book yet, then don't read this review...there may be spoilers!

When the book opens, life is going okay for Katniss. She and her mother and sister have moved into a nice house in the Victor's Village, and they finally have enough to eat, not to mention other pleasant amenities like hot water. Her relationship with Gale is still uncertain, and she doesn't see much of Peeta either since the cameras have left, even though he lives nearby. But Katniss doesn't get much time to catch her breath. She and Peeta are about to embark on their mandatory victory tour of the other districts when President Snow drops in for a surprise visit. He tells Katniss that he's not convinced she's in love with Peeta, and that her little stunt in the last Games has agitated the other districts to the point of revolt. If she can't convince the President that her feelings for Peeta are real AND manage to quell the incipient rebellions, not only her life but the lives of everyone she loves--especially Gale--will be in danger.

I won't say more than that about the plot, because I don't want to give anything away. If you've already read The Hunger Games then you're dying to read this anyway, and if you haven't already read The Hunger Games, you're not supposed to be reading this review yet! I will say that Collins doesn't disappoint. Some people think this book starts out slower than the last, and I suppose I can see that, but by the latter part of the book you will be absolutely glued. So schedule your reading time accordingly.

At the end of my review of The Hunger Games, I mentioned that I don't like the sorts of trilogies where the author basically writes the same book three times. Maybe it's too early for me to think about this, because I haven't read the third book yet, but the second book is framed in a similar way to the first book. However, in this case I think it really works. Like I said, I don't want to give too much away, but we have certain expectations about how things work after the first book, and then in the second book Collins builds on those so that the twists are that much more effective.

One of the things I mused about while reading this book was why people continue to have children even when they will be raised in an environment that is less than ideal. Katniss, and Haymitch too, apparently, have planned never to have children. They don't want to be responsible for exposing any more human beings to the suffering and terror of their lives. But it seems that their view is unique. Why is that? Why do people continue to have children even when those children will be raised in slavery or poverty or in a war zone? Is it simply a matter of irresistible desire and a lack of effective contraception? Or is it something more than that? Is it, perhaps, a result of the hope that emanates from the innocence of an infant...the hope that maybe this time something will change, that somehow this generation will get things right? After all the centuries in which we've been proven wrong, do we really believe that? Or do we, more pragmatically, come to a decision that even though the future isn't likely to be different, it's worth the risk to enjoy a bit of hope for even a few a short years. Perhaps we understand--as Katniss must, or she wouldn't work so hard to keep herself and the people she cares about alive--that in spite of all the misery, life is worth living.

See my review of The Hunger Games for recommendations of similar books.