Reviews with content warning for Violence - Catching Fire - Tersulut

Reading this as an adult is a gut punch. Finnick being 24 is horrifying. I thought he was a grownup and his prefrontal cortex isn't even all the way developed. I really adore this book. The formatting of the first half being focused on their life after and the state of Panem is so clever and how brutal and quick the games are. This book is brilliant. I'm terrified for Mockingjay.

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robotnik's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I haven't read Mockingjay yet, but if it goes anyway like the movies, I can say, without a doubt, that Catching Fire is my favorite part of The Hunger Games trilogy.

Catching Fire continues Katniss Everdeen's journey after becoming a Victor at the end of the Hunger Games, and, of course, it is not a fun ride.

Since, you know, she kind of has to go back into the Games, which is just sucky all around.

As the title might suggest, we start to see the flames of a rebellion against the Capitol take place, and, mostly against her own design, Katniss is at the center of it.

What I distinctly like about Catching Fire isn't necessarily the plot, but the whole new cast of characters it brings to the table. In particularly, all the previous Victors who are now part of the Quarter Quell. Beetee is most definitely my favorite, but Johanna and Finnick are definitely up there. Hell, I enjoy everyone from Brutus to Chaff as well. It's interesting to see people, other than Haymitch and then Katniss and Peeta, who have experienced the horrors they have, and to see what kind of people they've turned out to be. Normally when books have to come up with an eclectic group of characters to introduce, they seem to flub it, but Catching Fire does a nice job with these guys.

Of course, the plot isn't anything to snub at. The Quarter Quell is only in the last third of the book. The rest shows a lot more, so we aren't as focus on just the Games, and each page is filled with something that adds to it, rather than meaningless fluff.

Katniss continues to grow as a character - whether for good or for worse - and she, at least, shows the effects of the trauma she has experienced (accuracy of PTSD aside), which is a relief as often protagonists seem to not have any. While she's not the perfect example of a great female lead, she's definitely probably the closest I've read in a long time.

I rarely consider books favourites, but Catching Fire is definitely one of them. There's still a few flubs here and there, but I'm excited to get to Mockingjay.

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religiousmom666's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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kiwi_of_serenity's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Catching fire is solid! I liked getting to see district 12 in the aftermath of Katniss’ Games and was pretty disappointed when I realized there was actually going to be another games in the book (but also perversely excited). I was very caught up in the slowly growing revolution, and it was cool that Katniss wasn’t really aware of it until the end. The mystery of the book was how organized the rebellion was, and as readers we’re piecing it together while Katniss is just trying to survive. It felt genuine and practical that she wouldn’t be focused on discovering the uprising or starting one— she’s just trying to avoid a crackdown, but gets herded towards rebellion anyway.

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