Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE HUNGER GAMES.
If you have yet to read, DO NOT read this review!

Find my The Hunger Game's review here!

Typically, while reading a series, as soon as I've finished one book, I move right into the other. Oh, sure, that's that momentary downtime it takes to digest the book, to settle over my thoughts. So many books in a series love to utilize the cliffhanger ending, though, so more often than not, I'm ready to dive right into the next book.

Not the case with the Hunger Games series.

I had to use a couple days to digest the first book. Reading was easy (and I say this loosely, given my anxiety attack [1]) and happened in one sitting. The book gripped me and I stayed up all night, through until dawn lit the basement so much I no longer needed the flashlight app on my phone. But afterwards, even though I crept through my morning-soaked basement and woke my fiancé up climbing back into bed and kicking him around, even though I had Catching Fire in my hand, I couldn’t sleep.

I was strung out, okay?

Catching Fire picks up a few weeks or so after the ending of The Hunger Games, which is nice, because at this point, Katniss is attempting to “settle” back into her old life – except, you know she’ll never be able to. [2] Not because, as a reader you realize this is a trilogy and big things are happening, but after surviving the Games, life will never be normal again. It doesn’t help that Panem is caught in a ripple – and Katniss is the pebble.

After she and Peeta trick-won the Games, you would think she’d be able to catch a break. Go home, do some hunting with Gale, ignore Peeta’s icy frigidness. She has more money than she’ll need for her lifetime with which to take care of her mother and Prim, she has a brand new house and electricity and hot water. And, as a bonus, Katniss can’t be reaped again. Life is supposed to be good.

Except, after tricking the Capitol, a movement has started, and even if it hadn’t been Katniss’s intentions, full blame falls on her. That one seemingly inconsequential act has entirely way more consequences than Katniss could ever have expected – beginning with the ripples leading to an uprising. And with these rumors of rebellion in the air, President Snow wants someone to pay.

It isn’t hard to guess who’s going to pay.

But go ahead. Take a few seconds and guess.

Because if you said “Katniss Everdeen”, you are more than correct!

A surprise visit from President Snow informs Katniss that her life is so far from safe. Lives are on the line – and this time, it isn’t just Katniss and Peeta’s. With threats on the lives of everyone dear to her, Katniss has to be sure that everyone believes in her and Peeta’s passionate love, but even that might not be enough.

SO MANY FEELINGS, OKAY?! SO. MANY. FEELINGS. But mostly crazy anxious stressy feelings.

It’s so hard to write about the book without giving away spoilers, so I’ll do my best for you, I promise.

But where The Hunger Games made me so anxious I was ready to puke, Catching Fire made me bit my nails – and I can assure you, I NEVER bite my nails.

Everything about this series wrought with tension and anxiety! There's all these moments where nothing is happening, but you're waiting and you're on the brink of despair because TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WAAAH! The Capitol is not just harsh and domineering, but violent and in absolute control. Ab-so-lute con-trol. Every action has the potential for a dangerous reaction, and that alone is a nerve-wracking hardship.

And President Snow is one ruthless, anger-inducing man. Plus, he smells like blood. Blood! That is mega-creepy. His violence knows no bounds, though, and it’s clear through all the scenes featuring him – and even the ones he’s not in. I don’t really dislike many people in the series, but I really hate President Snow at this point. Like, blood boiling, rage-inducing HATE.

For a while, I was teetering between how much I liked Catching Fire. At no point in time did I find myself disliking the book. Second books in series have that issue of being a gap filler. Book one sets the world, sets the characters, sets the motion. Book three has your final action, your resolution, a sort of sense of closure. But your second book tends to be less enjoyable – it’s filling a gap. In the beginning, I guess that’s how it felt to me. It was filling a gap, bridging one book to the other, and I couldn’t fathom how they were going to fill the book. And of course, in reflection, it makes so much brilliant sense. What other way could you fill the book?

Once again, this series introduces fantastic characters. That is something I feel Collins does really well. Rather than these secondary characters whose sole purpose is to move along a plot, the new characters have lives and dimension. They are likable and hatable, but they are real and more than just plot devices. And for the record, Finnick Odair? You can share your sugar with me, any day. Hurr hurr.

The thing I like least about this book? How about that whopper of a cliffhanger?! I’m not new to cliffhangers, but this is just a terribly, crippling ending! I’m lucky to be reading these once the books have already been posted because I cannot imagine finishing that book and knowing you still had to wait for the last book.

I promise you. It’s a crazy cliffhanger.

Unfortunately, there were times where I felt like the pacing of this book was too fast. It didn’t leave me confused, but sometimes, the pacing left me with whiplash. One moment, we’re at this point, and then two paragraphs later, we’ve completely moved on! I guess I didn’t like the rushed feel of it, even though I realize that’s entirely what Collins was trying to do: rush and create the sense of tension, anxiety, and frantic moments.

Something that’s really well-done, though, is the love triangle. Typically, I’m not a huge fan of them. More often than not, one male is “ideal and perfect” and the other boy is a poor sap who’s been strung along and clearly not the choice option. Again, Collins escapes this tried cliché with two males who are both whole and both make good options. Peeta’s affections for Katniss are nothing short of whole and true and Gale causes a sort of pang when you realize that, outside of his family, he has no one else but Katniss. And Katniss, miraculously, cares about both males and isn’t so much as torn between them as she doesn’t want to hurt either.

But what I found I liked more is that Katniss isn’t seeking romance. Her story is about so much more than romance and boys and “Team Gale” vs. “Team Peeta”, and that was awfully comforting, in a Young Adult novel. Her life is in danger. Her family and loved ones are in danger.

And fans are engaging in shipping wars?!

Let it not be forgotten that the Hunger Games is a series about so much more than one girl choosing between two boys. And if you do feel like talking about love? Let’s not forget that everything Katniss ever does is for her family – especially Prim.

For a while, I teetered between 4 and 5 stars for this book. At no point did I feel it really dragged and it did have me gripped from the start. Because, once again, reading this book I found myself insatiable and ravenous, even as I chewed on my nails in the middle of the night and anxiety clawed at my chest. In the end, it's definitely worth the five stars! 

★★★★★

Notes: [1] While reading Catching Fire (and The Hunger Games), this was basically my inner tumoirl: 

  

Basically, it was a traumatic experience. I get so stressed, so distressed, so nervous, so anxious, I become a glass case of emotion. I can't help myself. :( It's a normal reaction, I think, but man, I end the books feeling like I've run a marathon all night. I'm exhausted by Katniss's life. 

Guys, if I was her. I would be dead. I'd have died way back before the books began, though, after her dad died. Just starved to death. ;~;

[2] Face it. Even with her life eased via money and a great new home and knowing she can never be reaped again and Prim is safe from the tesarae, how can her life ever be easy again? Look at Haymitch, who turned to alcohol! Her life is now plagued with nightmares from the arena. She killed people to save her life! She sat with Rue as she died. How does anyone ever recover from that?! How can anyone think of romance in this world?! Do you blame her apathy towards marriage? If I was her, I wouldn't want to marry and have kids, either! The chance that you'll watch your own child get reaped? The fact that winner tribute's kids almost always get reaped? No. No way. I can't blame Katniss, either.