Catching Fire

Catching Fire
By Suzanne Collins (391 pages)
Published by Scholastic
Bookish rating: 3.5

I don't really care for writing reviews for books like Catching Fire, the second book in the wildly popular Hunger Games trilogy. Thousands upon thousands reviews already exist; I can't add much to the conversation.

But here we are. Is Catching Fire as good as The Hunger Games? No, but it's still quite good. We meet up with our archery heroine Katniss, who finds herself wanting to start a rebellion against the Panem (futuristic North America) government as well as in a Twilight-esque love triangle with Gale and Peeta.

Like the first book, Collins excels at plotting and pacing. She raises the stakes at the exact right spots, which makes for lots of page turning. Or, well, Kindle clicking. Lots of characters come and go, and Collins at subtly highlighting those you need to remember and those who aren't so important.

Catching Fire is clearly a transition novel, capitalizing on the adrenaline of the first book and steering us to the big climax and conclusion in the third book.

If you read and enjoyed The Hunger Games, recommended.