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Feb 18, 2012

Cara rated it:

This is most possibly the WORST (or best depending what you go on) cliffhanger I have encountered in all my reading days. It leaves you more than just hanging, you are grasping for your life on a thread that is fraying and there is nothing to do but hold on (well metaphorically of course).

One word that can sum up this book is intense . Everything is just felt more. The compassion, threats, action, betrayal, gestures, words all of it. This has to be the reason why it is so addicti More...

71 comments like (333 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Lyndsey rated it:

Warning!! SPOILERS AHEAD...

Well, kind of. No plot spoilers, just image spoilers.

Don't read on if you do not want to see images of the actors cast in the upcoming Hunger Games movies.

I am officially designating this review as my update central for casting on the Hunger Games. As new characters are cast, I will post the actor's pictures here along with the images I find that imitate how they might look as the character they will be playing.

LATEST UPD More...

112 comments like (114 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2010

Sparrow rated it:

I went to see Inglourious Basterds a couple of times this past month, and there is that scene where Eli Roth and Omar Doom are in the theater, and they dress themselves up to look like waiters and then whip around the corner and kill the two Nazi guards to some funny Ennio Morriconi(ish?), spaghetti-western sounding music. And everybody in the theater laughs, and then the film cuts to Hitler laughing, watching a movie of a Nazi soldier killing Americans. It’s one of those great story-telling m More...

83 comments like (263 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Sophie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

36 comments like (102 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2011

Maxy rated it:

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66 comments like (114 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

Emily rated it:

I think I wouldn't be feeling quite so disappointed by this book if The Hunger Games hadn't been quite so perfect. But there it is. Must be hard to compete with yourself when you set the bar so high.

Where The Hunger Games is a tightly-plotted, fast-paced dystopian thriller heaped with romance and horror, this book is... well, a lot of the same. A WHOLE lot of the same plot. Redundantly similar, at points. But too much of the story is told rather than shown -- whole months can go by More...

17 comments like (73 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2009

Wendy rated it:

Loved it!!!

Totally not what I expected, but a good story. Although not as jaw-droppingly good as the first book.

Less action, especially in the first act of the book. Action picks up later, but is still not as good as the first one. Still, a good 'middle' book, for what I expect to be a trilogy. Provided a little more backstory, and certainly a lot more foreshadowing of what will be happening next.

Can't wait for the next one!!!

10 comments like (55 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2010

Ash rated it:

Oh, snap. She DID NOT just do that. This is not a cliffhanger people, this is inhumane. Like hanging on for dear life by a spider web thin thread totally butt naked (you know that makes it worse)! It's so worth it though.

Quick overview: Catching Fire starts up not far from where The Hunger Games ended. Katniss is living in the Victors Village with her family. You'd think that she'd finally be able to relax and live the cushy life. Well that wouldn't make a good book. There are ru More...

14 comments like (63 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Eh?Eh! rated it:

With 97 holds on 53 copies of this book in my local library system and just 6 days before the release of #3, I was kicking myself for waiting so long to pick up this series. Oops. But then...DID I KNOW THE AUDIOBOOK COULD BE DOWNLOADED OFF THE LIBRARY WEBSITE NO BUT NOW I DO AND YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!

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My first audiobook and I'm disappointed, with the audio and the book.

Book - #1 in the series presented Katniss as a kicka** heroine, strong, resourceful, no More...

38 comments like (24 people liked it)

Feb 18, 2012

Kira rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

37 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I've decided to give this book 4 stars.... It was a close thing. There are times, a great many of them actually, when I really just don't like Katniss. But to be fair, I believe that's how Ms. Collins wrote her. This is a well written book. It starts a bit slowly with some relatively extensive recapping but "it" finally does get into the story and moves right along. I found that I needed to keep reminding myself, "this is a 16 year old girl"... I'm not a "YA", but t More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2010

Katherine added it

Couldn't. Put. It. Down. While book one was a little stronger, I like the direction the author takes with this. A few of my expectations were met, but largely the plot was constructed such that it would be near-impossible to predict. And despite its constant twisting and turning, we didn't lose track of Katniss or the people she loves. I can't imagine how tough it was to write the sequel to a book as impressive as Hunger Games, but Suzanne Collins was clearly up to the challenge.

6 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2011

Kaitlyn rated it:

I had high hopes for this book, not only because everyone said it was amazing, but because the first book was fantastic. This book totally blew me away like I knew it would. I loved how everything went along. You got to see alot more of the other characters, especially Gale. I am still Team Peeta :)The ending was a definite cliffhanger but it made me want to read the third book super bad!

8 comments like (13 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2010

Kasia rated it:

Catching Fire delivers just like The Hunger Games did. It gets this insane energy, especially at the very end, delivering kicks and punches right and left. Yeah. It does not disappoint for sure. I mean, I was so high on adrenaline that upon finishing it up last night I had to stay awake for additional 2 hours loitering around the house, trying to calm myself down a little. But that's a tiny price for such an entertaining read.

But I wouldn't say it was better than Hunger Games - just More...

15 comments like (17 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Harper rated it:

Oh, man, where to begin? The cliffhanger at the end of this book was totally brutal.

I know that some people think using a cliffhanger is “cheating,” or lazy writing, or just some kind of marketing ploy. Some people may think that the payoff is never worth all of the angst/tension a cliffhanger might cause, or that a cliffhanger is somehow tantamount to a betrayal of trust by the author just to keep readers hooked. Overall, I don’t mind them. In a scenario like this, where I know that More...

8 comments like (19 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

I'll keep this review short, mainly because I don't want to give out any spoilers. After all, I didn't read any before opening the book and I am glad I didn't, many events in the book caught me by a complete surprise and I loved it! "Catching Fire" is a sequel equal in quality to "Hunger Games." The writing is superb, action-packed, and emotional. It did lack the perfect pacing of the first book, the first half was a little slow and for some time I wasn't sure where it was go More...

17 comments like (27 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

~Tina~ rated it:

O M G!!!
so, So, SO worth the long agonizing wait!!!

I probably don't even have to review this book really, everyone who has read it already knows it's made of pure awesomesauce so I'll keep this short and sweet.

Catching Fire is a crazy thrilling cruel ride that I will never forget!
It's malicious, inhuman and frustrating but in theee best way possible!
Charged with pure raw emotion with ever.single.line, my only thought after reading this book was MORE!!
More...

25 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it:

Just going to jump right in:
As always, I believe in objective reviews, so I'm going to mention the things that I thought were very well-done, and things I thought could use a little work.
Even though I like both books equally, Catching Fire finally delivered on the *action* that I felt was sometimes lukewarm in its predecessor. Except for a few lulls in the story, this book went from one major event to another, and the excitement I felt was so incredible and so energizing, I literal More...

22 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Buggy rated it:

Opening Line:"I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air."

At the conclusion of CATCHING FIRE two words entered my head “Wow” and “Really!?” Then I caught my breath, checked my heart and re-read the final chapter because I’d been so engrossed in finding out how Suzanne Collins was going to end this unpredictable ride that I’d really only scanned the words the first time through. Not many books have the ab More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Miss Kim rated it:

Holy shit!

This series is amazing! We are thrown back in The Hunger Games again. Katniss, Peeta, and others I grew very fond of had to bond to fight for their lives, and then ultimately kill each other in order to have a victor for the The Gamemakers.

I do not want to give anything way, and is hard to explain anyway. The author was very creative with the Games. The last chapter is written so you cannot put it down because you HAVE to know what is going to happen!
More...

22 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 08, 2011

mark rated it:

and now let's play the wildly popular RPG

ADVANCED HUNGER & GAMES 2.0: CATCHING FIRE EDITION

Our Players

Katniss

HIT POINTS: 25
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good
SYMBOL: Middle Finger
STRENGTH: 15
INTELLIGENCE: 10
WISDOM: 5
DEXTERITY: 20
CONSTITUTION: 15
CHARISMA: 25
FIGHTER: 10th Level Archer
ASSASSIN: 9th Level Assassin
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Resentful Attitude
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Defensive Atti More...

12 comments like (40 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2009

Michele rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

9 comments like (22 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2011

Lou rated it:

Katniss outsmarted the Hunger Games and she made the Capitol look foolish and consequently undermined His control. There is a rise of a rebellion with a symbol of hope for the Districts through a girl and a Mockingjay. This is Heart warming and touching part of the series and you feel that the best is yet to come, from the way the story is set up for book 3.

"A visit from President Snow. Districts on the verge of uprisings. A direct death threat to Gale, with others to follow.
More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Nic rated it:

Oh no! I can't believe the cliffhanger ending. ~Calms self downs and takes a deep breath~. Thankfully Mockingjay is released today. Phew! There is no way I could have waited the year for Mockingjay. I am now wondering how all my goodread friends did it.

This book is awesome. I loved every minute of it and I want to go read it all over again right now. This book consumed me. It was all I could think about when I wasn't reading it.

It was filled with plenty of moments More...

19 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 15, 2009

Heather rated it:

Catching Fire was one of my most anticipated books of 2009. I loved it's predecessor, The Hunger Games and was so hopeful for this intstallment. I wasn't disappointed per se, but it did fail to meet my expectations. Here's a few reasons why...

I don't know what it is with authors and their recent need to load up their books with a hundred or so pages of filler, but I really wish they would cut it out. There is lieterally about a hundred and some odd pages of this book that should h More...

29 comments like (76 people liked it)

Apr 28, 2011

BunWat rated it:

It had all the things that made the previous installment such a great read, beautifully paced and plotted, vivid characters drawn with an economy of language that allows the story to keep on moving, emotionally resonant situations, all that. So all round good stuff. If anything it was too much like the previous one. I would have given five stars for a little more branching out in new directions. Still, highly recommended.

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Jasmin rated it:

BEWARE. You’ll catch fire (or rather be on fire) once you read this book. And there’s no turning back.

Well, not literally, but figuratively rather. As I was reading, I felt like I was on fire, for I had to finish this as soon as possible, since the fire was consuming me. But despite the licks of flame on my being, I can’t conquer the courage to vanquish the flames until I read the last page, since the fire felt good, despite it being painful.

Suzanne Collins, makes another More...

20 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2010

Annalisa rated it:

In some ways I liked this book more than Hunger Games and in some ways less. The suspense is stronger, the relationships deeper, and the twists greater, making this more of a page turner, but it took too long to get there. Plus it's the basic outline of Hunger Games so you're not as intrigued or enamored by the details that have to be hashed out again.

I found myself thinking too much of the Uglies, particularly the societal control and makeovers. The capital did not concern me as mu More...

15 comments like (15 people liked it)

Sep 30, 2009

Greg rated it:

Preface to the review, written a day later.

I think I agree with Karen, I did make this book sound shitty by this review, and that wasn't my intention. What is shitty is the dumbness some parts of our society that reduce everything to the weekly covers of celebrity gossip magazines, and find more interest in who is sticking it into, or getting it stuck into them by who. The whole love triangle thing is so little of a part of the book, there are so many other pretty cool things goi More...

5 comments like (23 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Zeek rated it:

Wow. Good thing I have Mockingjay ready to go! :D

Catching Fire begins soon after the end of The Hunger Games. Peeta and Katniss are favorites of the Capitol and unwitting heroes to the rest of the districts that compromise the country of Panem. But one man despises them and he’s the one who seems to hold all the power. In a surprising twist of events, it’s back to the hunger games for them- and though Kat is certain this time it truly does spell the end for her, she’s determined More...

10 comments like (4 people liked it)