SUMMARY
Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.
Summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
I feel like I’m one of the few people who came to The Hunger Games incredibly late. I finally read the first book back in 2023 after avoiding the series for years and despite how popular it has always been, I’ve somehow also managed to avoid watching the films. So aside from knowing the general premise, I’ve gone into this series almost completely blind.
Catching Fire ended up being my next read because I pulled it out of my TBR jar filled with unread physical books. It felt like the perfect opportunity to finally continue the series instead of letting it sit on my shelf for another few years.
Overall, I thought it was okay.
I didn’t dislike it but I also never found myself completely hooked, which surprised me considering how beloved this series is. I kept waiting for the moment where I wouldn’t be able to put the book down, but that feeling never really came. I enjoyed reading it enough to keep turning the pages but I was never desperate to find out what happened next.
One of the biggest reasons for that was that I found a lot of the story fairly predictable. As the plot unfolded I was able to guess many of the major developments before they happened, which took away some of the tension. For a series that’s known for its high stakes and shocking moments, I expected to be surprised more often than I was.
That said, I still appreciate what Suzanne Collins does well. Katniss continues to be a compelling protagonist because she feels incredibly human. She’s constantly trying to navigate impossible situations while carrying the weight of other people’s expectations and I liked seeing the emotional toll that the previous Games had taken on her. She isn’t written as an invincible hero and I think that’s one of the series’ greatest strengths.
I also enjoyed seeing the world expand beyond what we experienced in the first book. Learning more about Panem, the growing unrest throughout the districts and the political consequences of Katniss and Peeta’s actions helped make the world feel much larger. There are clearly bigger things being set up for the rest of the series and I appreciated how the story started shifting from survival to something with much larger consequences.
Where the book lost me was its pacing. There were sections particularly in the first half where I felt like the story took a little too long to get where it was going. Once things picked up, they were certainly more engaging but by then I never felt fully invested. I also found myself wanting stronger emotional connections with some of the supporting characters as I didn’t feel particularly attached to many of them.
I can absolutely understand why so many readers consider Catching Fire to be their favourite book in the trilogy and I have a feeling my opinion is probably in the minority. Unfortunately, it just didn’t have the impact on me that I was hoping for. It was an enjoyable enough read with an interesting world and solid characters, but it never completely drew me in or left me desperate to immediately pick up the next book.
I’m still curious to see how the trilogy ends and I definitely plan to continue with Mockingjay. I’m hoping the final instalment delivers the emotional payoff and excitement that I was looking for here.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
