Book Review: Catching Fire

Title: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

ISBN:   0439023491

Pages: 391

Release Date: September 1, 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 5 out of 5 Bookworms

From Goodreads.com:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Review:

Okay, so I thought that The Hunger Games was excellent. But this book is, in my opinion, even better.

Katniss and Peeta are back home after a gruesome and violent battle in the annual Hunger Games. They should be moving on with their lives and recovering from the horrors they were forced to endure in the Games. But the Capitol is not happy with Katniss for making them look like fools with her show of defiance during the final minutes of the Games. And now they are out to exact revenge and they make sure she knows just what they can do...to her, to Peeta, to Gale and to their families and District 12.

Katniss knows that she is not safe, nor is her family or her loved ones. She must figure out how she can best protect them from the Capitol. But before she can decide on her course of action, a stunning turn of events chooses her path for her and she is forced to make impossible decisions. Meanwhile, the districts of the Capitol are becoming more and more discontent and many are staging uprisings, using Katniss as a symbol of hope and rebellion. Whether she intended to or not, Katniss is the biggest threat the Capitol has faced in years and they will do all they can to make sure she, and the rebellion she may be inciting, is stopped.

This book is an exciting and fast-paced thrill ride. I couldn't put it down. I am literally counting the days until the third book appears on shelves. Read this book as fast as you possibly can...after reading The Hunger Games, of course!

Book Review: The Hunger Games

Title: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

ISBN:   0439023483

Pages: 374

Release Date: October 1, 2008

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 5 out of 5 Bookworms

From Goodreads.com:

In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Review:

The Hunger Games is a brilliantly written tale of a young girl named Katniss who is forced to sacrifice herself to save her younger sister from being thrown into the barbaric annual event known as The Hunger Games where two children from each district of Panem fight each other to the death on national television. Although Katniss has little hope that she will be the one victor left standing, she is determined not to go down without a fight, at least to make her mother and sister proud, and to show the evil Capitol who produces this abominable event every year that she is more than just a pawn in their Games.

From the very beginning, this book is impossible to put down. The story is engrossing (and highly enraging) and the characters are well-developed and easy to relate to. To read about the quality of life for those living in the districts of Panem, and the control that the Capitol has over each district by use of violence and cruelty, makes me shudder to think how much it reminded me of Hitler and the Nazi regime. Had the outcome of World War II been different, would the world of The Hunger Games be more reality than fantasy? Very possibly, and that is beyond scary.

Anyway, besides being an excellent storyline, the writing is very well done. The rhythm of the book is also ideal: fast-paced, engaging, a perfect combination of action, thought-provoking issues, and a little love story thrown in for good measure. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Read it now!