A review by theverbalthing
Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
5.0
Honestly, I don't even know where to begin reviewing this book. Half of me is an emotional wreck over the closing events and comments, while the other half is just so thrilled to have a character like Katniss in young adult literary canon. She is so flawed, and yet so determined to do what she thinks is best for her family and her district, despite warnings from everyone around her that she cannot win with the plans she is making.
What's most interesting is that there are all of these elements in her life which would normally be vital to a seventeen year-old girl's existence, especially in fiction: boys she loves, a family she cares about but still hates on occasion, clothes, make-up, celebrity. Yet her biggest concern is not only staying alive, but keeping all of the people she loves alive, and also trying her damndest to incite a rebellion against one of the most insane forms of tyrannical rule I have ever read. This book reeks of white male privilege and yet here is this fabulous female protagonist who, at every turn, is fighting in the face of the aristocracy and so completely embodying the spirit of rebellion that no one can keep her down, not even the ones who are supposedly on her team and using her as the face of their campaign.
What's most interesting is that there are all of these elements in her life which would normally be vital to a seventeen year-old girl's existence, especially in fiction: boys she loves, a family she cares about but still hates on occasion, clothes, make-up, celebrity. Yet her biggest concern is not only staying alive, but keeping all of the people she loves alive, and also trying her damndest to incite a rebellion against one of the most insane forms of tyrannical rule I have ever read. This book reeks of white male privilege and yet here is this fabulous female protagonist who, at every turn, is fighting in the face of the aristocracy and so completely embodying the spirit of rebellion that no one can keep her down, not even the ones who are supposedly on her team and using her as the face of their campaign.