Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the second book in The Hunger Games series. At the end of the first book Katniss and her fellow tribute from District 12, Peeta, both survived the brutal games and were crowned victors. Life should have been easy for them from that point on but both were to discover that life just became more problematic. Love triangle between Katniss, Gale and Peeta persists and now there are whispers of rebellion in all the districts. While Katniss and Peeta prepare to take their Victory Tour to each district, Katniss is confronted by President Snow and told to calm the district with their tale of love or else she, her family and friends will die. To top it off this year’s Hunger Games will have a cruel twist of fate for many and Katniss once again finds herself fighting for her life.

The Hunger Games was an interesting read and to be honest I almost did not want to continue reading the series… that ending though, that made me pick up the second book. The second book Catching Fire started off slow and boring. The reader was somewhat tortured with Katniss and her teenage angst about the boys she loved, but did not love. The first few chapters almost lost me as a reader. It was not until [SPOILER ALERT] the Quarter Quell announcement came out that the tributes for that year’s games would all be past victors that the book started to get good. It was a great twist to the story and the players in the games in this novel were much more dynamic.
This book was definitely better than the second book. The political strife story was much more dominant and the silliness of teenage love turned a little less silly. Finally in this book our heroine seemed to have her wits about her, even though she was kept in the dark about the plans of the victors, mentors and game makers.

Like the first book, this book had a fantastic ending. Collins has perfected the art of giving you an ending full of emotion and levity while at the same time leaving it wide open so the reader has no other choice than to rush out and read the next book. If you read the first book, seen the movie or simply just want to find out what everyone is talking about read this book.