A review by onthesamepage
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

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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