Catching Fire

*****WARNING THIS IS A REVIEW OF A SEQUEL AND THEREFORE WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK: HUNGER GAMES****

When Katniss called the capitol's bluff by pulling out the poisoned berries she unwittingly sparked the flames of a revolution that took up her mockingjay token as its symbol.  She's out of the frying pan of the games, but she landed in the fire.  Now she has to convince the citizens of panem that she acted out of love, not rebellion or her family and friends will pay the price.  Should she run? Should she join the revolution? Should she play along with the capitol and hope they'll show forgiveness?  In the meantime life is becoming harder for the citizens of district twelve as military presence increases and rules are more strictly enforced.  Soon, as the next Games approaches her choices are taken away and she has a new set of problems to face.  Will her rebellious spark be catching and start a revolution to save them all, or will Katniss, the girl on fire, be caught by the capitol in a plot to put out her own flame and the revolution in one fell swoop?

I finished Hunger Games after getting home on Christmas night and was unsatisfied with the ending so I started right into Catching Fire.  I ended up staying up until 4:30 in the morning to finish that one as well and probably would have continued on to the next if it was out.  The second book is pretty consistent with the first and my praises and criticisms are pretty much the same.  This books starts to get more into more of the political side, but about halfway through it gets caught up in another action plot.  I hope in the third book we get to see more of the revolution.  Once again I'd recommend this book, but with the caveat that I'd wait to read them all until the third book comes out, then I'd make sure to buy or check out all three at once.  They read pretty quickly anyway so I think an adult could probably read all three in a weekend day.  I wish I had waited.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins ISBN: 0439023491