Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Catching Fire

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Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

99 reviews

night3aven's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

The Hunger Games: Catching fire - review

The Hunger Games are about emotion.
The Hunger Games are about choice.
The Hunger Games are about playing.
But the Hunger Games are also rebellion.
They are also a fight for freedom, a fight for justice, a fight for a better world, for friendship, for family, for love.

And today, girl on fire, you managed to envelop the arena in your flames.

I can happily say, that this book belongs on the list of the best novels I have ever read.
Suzanne Collins' writing captures the reader's attention throughout the book. The characters she creates are so realistic, so well defined, that the reader can't help but become attached to them and experience every single event with them.
Many concepts from the first book of the saga are obviously taken up in this second volume, but their repetition is not excessive or oppressive for the reader.
The beginning of the book is relatively quiet (at least compared to other parts of the story), but the author's writing style is still impeccable. We find for the entire course of the first act, a careful focus on the duality of the plot. Katniss's (and Peeta's) private life on the one hand, as opposed to the image that must be maintained in front of the cameras and in Capitol City on the other.
Katniss' point of view is useful to make the reader understand every injustice, every lie, every way to hide one's wrongdoings that the dictatorial government of Panem, once it has concealed its revenge against the districts through the Hunger Games, uses to keep its citizens under control.
The moment the book's plot really takes off, however, is the third act.
The arena is skilfully recreated by the author, who manages to present it in a new, creative and different way. The emotional involvement is very high, there are twists and turns around every corner and the writing style during this juncture is simply superb. The arena, the danger, the love, the worry, the fear,

while the rebellion breaks out outside of that place...

... make the reader carry a very high emotional load. The ending is perfectly crafted: as events progress, along with Katniss' growing confusion, so does the confusion in the mind of the reader, who struggles to understand what is happening and finds himself completely projected into the mind of the protagonist.

After events such as the shooting of the man from District 11, the public whipping of Gale, the increasing control of Capitol City and the evolution of the rebellion, we come to the final act of the plot.

The final revelation of events, even though it could be noticed by the reader through some clues thrown in the story, is shocking and perfectly opens the door to the third volume of the trilogy.

In: "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", Suzanne Collins turns out to be an excellent author, who knows how to involve the reader in her stories and how to tell a story that is well defined but still full of emotions.
Her experience as a theatre scriptwriter and the division of the book into three acts are certainly complicit in her narrative skills.
The author uses her words to convey a profound and topical message, combining this with an emotional drama, frequent twists and turns, excellent world-building, characters with a characterisation bordering on perfection and an excellent and evocative writing style.

The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of the rebellion.

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the_pysselfia's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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goldsbuc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

Content Warnings

wallflovver's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

Content Warnings

joensign's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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martereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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jay_jade736's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

My review might contain spoilers so be warned‼️‼️

Things I liked about the book:

•Peeta/Haymitch/Katniss trio dynamic
The reason why I'm putting this here is that it sets up a big twist in the end of the book that creates a BIG emotional turmoil and development in the third book

•Katniss' Mom finally has character!!
Rather than Katniss telling what she does, her mom actually does the nursing!! Yehey!!!

*Gale
Although I dislike him, he actually has use here and sets up Katniss questioning her morality not just in this book but in the third book as well

Things I did not like:

•The "I'm not like any other girls" is really annoying. I don't want to say the pages but it is highlighted on 3 pages

•I think as tho as Katniss in this book has gotten dumb. She has gotten so reckless to the point of not thinking that the government won't punish her family

•The whole subplot for love was stupid to me. I know that Suzanne was forced to add it but still

•There was this whole chapter/s about the victors being friendly with one another and while it is the last time they can be friendly with one another...since alot of them will die, I just think it should not have been added if there wasn't even a single emotional turmoil

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libbyhb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

CATCHING FIRE! My absolute favorite of The Hunger Games books. Loved following the development of Katniss and Peeta’s relationship in this. The games, too, were so much more interesting this time, and I liked how much of the other contestants we get to learn about.

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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The thing I admire most about this trilogy, is how tightly plotted it is. I can't look into the author's mind, but the plot and pacing of each book makes me think that Suzanne Collins knew exactly what she was working towards from the very first book, and did all the right things to get there and bring us along for the ride. Even though the beginning of this is slower than how The Hunger Games starts, it feels like it serves a purpose, so we can see the impact Katniss has had on the rest of the world. The first time I read this, I remember thinking that having Katniss and Peeta participate in the games again felt a bit like copy/pasting from the first book, but upon reread I don't agree with my younger self anymore. The games themselves feel different. I will say that President Snow's reasoning to deal with Katniss in this way was fundamentally flawed from the start. He should've just had her killed while hunting and made it look like a tragic accident, instead of giving all of Panem a potential martyr to rally behind.

The berries. I realize the answer to who I am lies in that handful of poisonous fruit. If I held them out to save Peeta because I knew I would be shunned if I came back without him, then I am despicable. If I held them out because I loved him, I am self-centered, although forgivable. But if I held them out to defy the Capitol, I am someone of worth. The trouble is, I don't know exactly what was going on inside me a that moment.

I really liked this moment of self-reflection, because most heroines would probably say that of course it was to rebel against the Capitol. But it makes a lot more sense to me that in the heat of the moment, Katniss just acted on instinct, without any consideration for her motives. It's not hard to root for her as a character, but Collins also clearly shows the places where Katniss is lacking and needs to grow.

Let's talk about Katniss and the love V, though, because that's the biggest reason I'm deducting half a star.

The way Katniss deals with her feelings for both Gale and Peeta makes sense, up to a point. In District 12, she is clearly leaning more towards Gale. She's no longer in a pressure cooker, so the distance between her and Peeta isn't surprising. Gale is someone she has known intimately for longer, so he has a stronger pull on her emotions, even though it takes a horrific incident for her to fully realize the extent of her feelings:

Gale is mine. I am his. Anything else is unthinkable.

However, 8 pages later, we get this:

Of course, I love Gale. But what kind of love does she mean? What do I mean when I say I love Gale? I don't know.

This inconsistency is what I really struggle with. How can she be so sure one moment, and then go back to waffling the next? I don't mind that she pivots back to Peeta once she finds out that they will once again be tributes, because at that point she has given up on ever seeing Gale again. It speaks to the callousness and selfishness that is definitely part of her character. But I think it would've been better to skip the emotional entanglement with Gale altogether, instead of forcing the love V the way Collins did.

I also want to take a moment to just appreciate Peeta as a character and as a love interest. The way he always puts Katniss first, his brilliant, strategic impulses when it comes to broadcasting their relationship to the Capitol, how he has this coil of anger and violence inside him that he only lets out rarely, but that rounds him out as a character instead of being just a plain cinnamon roll. The way he's not above manipulation to get what he wants. Seriously, I don't know what younger me was thinking. #TeamPeeta all the way.

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jessicaludden's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

“I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me.”

This will forever be the best book in the series. Truly iconic. It doesn’t hurt any less the second time around reading it.

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