Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright: 2009

In the second book of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is all the rage back home, in District 12, after miraculously winning the 74th Hunger Games with her partner, Peeta Mellark. Being a victor guarantees you out of the reaping for life, and that's all Katniss needs. But as the 3rd Quarter Quell approaches, several districts have started rebelling against the Capitol, using Katniss' act of defiance in the arena as a prime example. Plus, the mockingbird pin that Katniss sported in the Games has become a symbol used by rebels all over Panem, even in the fabled underground city of District 13.

But on reaping day, Katniss is shocked by the selection of tributes. One female and one male victor must participate in the Games. This means that Katniss is going back in. This time she believes that she'll never see District 12 again, so she focuses on keeping Peeta alive in the arena at all costs. Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta's mentor, have given them an unsuspected ally, Finnick Odair of District 4. Finnick, being physically muscular and good looking, becomes useful in the Quarter Quell.
After arriving in the arena, Katniss soon finds out that it is divided into 12 sections. Each one loaded with a different deadly surprise every hour. But after a few days, the remaining tributes are transported out after a deadly bombing. And Katniss survives with Peeta by her side. When Gale visits her in the hospital, he brings her news. "There is no District 12" (391)

I found this book very thrilling, addicting, and intriguingly violent. Catching Fire was cleverly written to keep you at the edge of your seat. Suzanne Collins creatively illustrates a story that is so realistic, it seems believable. I would recommend this novel to anyone with a taste for action, romance, and suspense. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone with a faint heart for it is quite violent; "I load an arrow as I twist and get a glimpse of a dripping-wet Gloss letting Wiress slide to the ground, her throat slit in a bright red smile. The point of my arrow disappears into (Gloss') right temple, and in the instant it takes to reload, Johanna has buried an ax blade in Cashmere's chest. Finnick knocks away a spear Brutus throws at Peeta and takes Enobaria's knife in his thigh." (333)

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