kernetin's review against another edition
5.0
Heartbreaking and fast paced. Second favourite of the series.
livadventurously's review against another edition
5.0
The characters that get introduced within this book are some of my personal favorite of the series. I love getting to see the new relationships between Katniss and the others, the others being Peeta, Haymitch, and Gale. The stakes are higher and there's definitely more to lose. Favorite book of the series.
erinlynn1989's review against another edition
3.0
All and all, Catching Fire satisfies the curiosity that the reader was left with in The Hunger Games. It is not as quick as a read as THG, and I found it boring at times. The pace does start to pick up at the end of Part II, and by the end of the novel, I was intrigued enough to want to finish the series.
kateraed's review against another edition
5.0
The second in the Hunger Games trilogy, and certainly not a disappointment. Katniss is still as lovable as ever, and the plot definitely advances well - and quickly. I kept waiting to hit the point in this book when everything would slow down so we could get into Katniss's head, but it was so crammed-full of events that apparently Collins didn't have much room to include anything else. Not that I'm complaining; as far as the sociopolitical commentary goes, it's a great starting-point for a discussion, especially with younger teens. My only other complaint: I know that Collins wants me to want Katniss to end up with Gale, but Peeta is so lovable I still want her to be with him. Not that we'll know for sure until August... can't wait for the third one!
mrsthrift's review against another edition
5.0
I've been reading audio books in a focused manner (i.e. regularly, not just on road trips) for three or four years now. This is the first book that I have been unable to finish on audio book because I needed to know what happened faster than the reader could read the story to me. I gave up on the audio book in frustration, borrowed the physical book from my wife and finished it in one night. I went to bed at 4am & my family made fun of me the next morning for my "book hangover."
This book has most of the great stuff from the first book of the trilogy: a great female protagonist, interesting characters, a rich alternate future world, strong storytelling, etc. About the Hunger Games, I wrote, "The book reflects on subjects of class, privilege, access, identity, community and rebellion in an earnest & thoughtful manner." and it totally applies here, too. The only thing I didn't love about this book was Katniss's behavior toward Peeta & Gale. I understand she's a seventeen year old girl who's probably suffering from some severe PTSD after the 74th Hunger Games, but why can she not deal with this situation at all? She can't figure out how she feels about either of them, to the point that her indecision irritated me. Of course, now that I am typing this out and remembering actually BEING a 17-year-old girl myself, I do feel like it's a pretty accurate characterization, but I was still annoyed by Katniss (and my past self). Regardless, it's a captivating read, and one of my friends who strongly identifies as a "non-reader" is engrossed in this series. It's just totally fascinating and awesome, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Since it's young adult fiction and it's EXCITING, it's easily accessible to people who don't normally get into novels.
One of my favorite things about this book is the conversations it has started with people when I talk about it - about anarchism, feminism, the future, inequality, capitalism, freedom, brutality, violence, and so on. Someone told me at a bar last night that it is a metaphor for the state of the world today under capitalism (where the US = the Capitol, the districts = the rest of the world). Levi talked to me last night about the gladiators, and how the Hunger Games are a future version of the Colosseum (I agree with him), and how can a society be considered "great" if it spawns that kind of brutality? (I agree with him). You can imagine the subject matter made for a heartwarming conversation.
I just have to say -- The plot twists in this book are fucked up. I was horrified/mesmerized by the injustice, unfair treatment, inequity, deceit and lies. I'm 1/3rd of the way through Mockingjay, and I'm already upset that it's so close to over. More! More! More! Please don't let Kristin Stewart star in the movie version!
This book has most of the great stuff from the first book of the trilogy: a great female protagonist, interesting characters, a rich alternate future world, strong storytelling, etc. About the Hunger Games, I wrote, "The book reflects on subjects of class, privilege, access, identity, community and rebellion in an earnest & thoughtful manner." and it totally applies here, too. The only thing I didn't love about this book was Katniss's behavior toward Peeta & Gale. I understand she's a seventeen year old girl who's probably suffering from some severe PTSD after the 74th Hunger Games, but why can she not deal with this situation at all? She can't figure out how she feels about either of them, to the point that her indecision irritated me. Of course, now that I am typing this out and remembering actually BEING a 17-year-old girl myself, I do feel like it's a pretty accurate characterization, but I was still annoyed by Katniss (and my past self). Regardless, it's a captivating read, and one of my friends who strongly identifies as a "non-reader" is engrossed in this series. It's just totally fascinating and awesome, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Since it's young adult fiction and it's EXCITING, it's easily accessible to people who don't normally get into novels.
One of my favorite things about this book is the conversations it has started with people when I talk about it - about anarchism, feminism, the future, inequality, capitalism, freedom, brutality, violence, and so on. Someone told me at a bar last night that it is a metaphor for the state of the world today under capitalism (where the US = the Capitol, the districts = the rest of the world). Levi talked to me last night about the gladiators, and how the Hunger Games are a future version of the Colosseum (I agree with him), and how can a society be considered "great" if it spawns that kind of brutality? (I agree with him). You can imagine the subject matter made for a heartwarming conversation.
I just have to say -- The plot twists in this book are fucked up. I was horrified/mesmerized by the injustice, unfair treatment, inequity, deceit and lies. I'm 1/3rd of the way through Mockingjay, and I'm already upset that it's so close to over. More! More! More! Please don't let Kristin Stewart star in the movie version!
dwheeler88's review against another edition
3.0
Review from 2021 reread: still 3 stars. This book really only does 2 things. It sets up book 3 and it introduces more characters. Knowing what I know about book 3, every interaction with Beetee makes my stomach tighten. If only Katniss knew. I also really loved Finnick in this book.
Review from 2012 read: 3 stars
Review from 2012 read: 3 stars
swordy's review against another edition
4.0
I am so sure that if I read this book when I was 13-15, it would have become a hyperfixation. I already love the movies (I know, I know, I committed the cardinal sin of watching the movie before reading the books) and my love for the world and characters has only grown since reading the books. They almost make the films look mild in heartbreaking content, and since I know what the last two movies are about, I'm sad in ANTICIPATION of reading the third novel. Anyway, it's safe to say this was a spectacular read. Collins builds upon the characters we know and love from the first novel, pushing into Katniss to force her to make impossible decisions. These are characters I know I will miss after I finish the last book.
booksreadem's review against another edition
4.0
I do love this book, but compared to the first its kinda disappointing. The first half was slow, Katniss was quite selfish and annoying, the stupid love triangle was shoved in our faces even more, and it pretty much just acts as a set up for Mockingjay. But, that being said, still really enjoyable
grecialopez's review against another edition
5.0
So this book was a great follow up to the first one. I felt like at sometimes things tended to happen so quickly. Katniss is up against President Snow again, but this time she isn't alone. I'd just continue the series if I were you.
aeslis's review against another edition
4.0
I wonder if Catching Fire had a different editor, or if I just didn't notice the number of sentence fragments that were in The Hunger Games. There were a lot here, anyway, which I found quite distracting.
This book was not what I thought it would be, and I mean that in a neutral way and in a good way. I thought the entire book was going to be the Victory Tour, and how Peeta and Katniss dealt with that. It turns out, however, that that's just the beginning, and a good deal of the tour itself is shortened down and summarized. Then Katniss goes through a lot of panic, angst, stress, and something of an identity crisis after going back home to District 12.
What Suzanne Collins is really good at is action and intrigue, and luckily, the last third of the book is full of it. Where the middle of the book went through a lull, the last third picked it all back up and took off running.
Though while I say a 'lull', please understand that I still couldn't stop reading. I finished this book in under 24 hours.
This book was not what I thought it would be, and I mean that in a neutral way and in a good way. I thought the entire book was going to be the Victory Tour, and how Peeta and Katniss dealt with that. It turns out, however, that that's just the beginning, and a good deal of the tour itself is shortened down and summarized. Then Katniss goes through a lot of panic, angst, stress, and something of an identity crisis after going back home to District 12.
What Suzanne Collins is really good at is action and intrigue, and luckily, the last third of the book is full of it. Where the middle of the book went through a lull, the last third picked it all back up and took off running.
Though while I say a 'lull', please understand that I still couldn't stop reading. I finished this book in under 24 hours.