Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers if you haven’t yet read the first book.
If there is nothing else to say about Suzanne Collins, one could say that the woman knows how to write a cliffhanger. Catching Fire was an amazing follow-up to the first novel in the Hunger Games Trilogy, full of more rapid-paced action, cliffhangers and crazy twist moments than one could shake a stick at. For that, this book has become my favorite of the series so far.
In this novel, winner of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to the arena one more time. Amidst changes in her district that make life harder than ever, a blooming romance, and confusion about her role in the uprisings around the districts, Katniss finds strength and determination. Resolving to bring down the Capitol once and for all, she finds that she isn’t the only one willing to sacrifice everything for a purpose.
The Capitol makes life for those in District 12 harder than it ever has been before, my bringing in thousands of new Peacekeepers to be sure that the laws are being followed strictly. Katniss can no longer sneak out into the woods to hunt for the families that live in her area; one time that she hunts with her close friend, Gale, she returns after they argue to find him being whipped for poaching in the town square. The crackdown makes it difficult for people to survive, for fear of stepping a toe out of line.
The head of the Capitol, President Snow, has it out for Katniss. Before leaving District 12 for a tour of the other districts, he explains to her that in order to suppress the uprisings that are brewing in several districts, she needs to fool the entire nation with her love for Peeta. He tells her that even he needs to believe that she is in love with Peeta. At the end of the tour, at a grand party in the Capitol, Snow tells her that she’s failed. And so, Katniss begins to fear for her life, and the life of her family and friends.
All of this is before the announcement of the 75th Annual Hunger Games, known as the Quarter Quell. At each 25th games, the Capitol always does something different. At the 50th Quarter Quell, double the amount of Tributes were required. For the 75th Hunger Games, Tributes who had previously won are required to return to the arena as “a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol.”
Unrest runs rampant through the Districts and, yes, even the Capitol. People don’t understand exactly what this means; Tributes are supposed to be exempt from going into the Games again! But again, the Capitol has shown it’s true colors…And the Games are the catalyst for an even larger uprising through many districts.
This book did not fail to capture my interest from the beginning. And with the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter, I will be beginning Mockingjay straight away. My desire for Katniss to win out over the Capitol has grown to a fever pitch, but it feels like Romeo and Juliet…Doomed from the beginning. Let’s hope that I’m wrong.
Jennie Ivins