If you thought the Capitol couldn't get any more twisted... you were wrong.
The
highly-anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games is the kind of novel that
has you pulling back to take a breath and go, "How did the author think
of this?" (if you can stop turning the pages long enough to breathe)
Catching
Fire picks up right where Hunger Games left off. Unrest in the
Districts is growing at an alarming pace and Katniss unwittingly finds
herself the figurehead for the movement against the Capitol. The
characters you loved return for the sequel and the reader must endure
each indignity the Capitol inflicts upon them. It is painful, tortuous,
imaginative and motivating. It is everything The Hunger Games was and
more. It both answers your lingering questions and creates so many new
ones. It challenges you to think and creates such feelings of empathy
for the characters that whenever I had to put the book down, I was
genuinely worried for leaving the characters hanging and couldn't wait
to pick it back up just so they could continue fighting for their lives
and freedoms.
Everything I loved about The Hunger Games is
present in Catching Fire: the unique and engrossing storyline;
characters so thoroughly and beautifully described they start to feel
like friends; a fantastical setting that is both real and sad; and
language that is easy to read and yet conveys such a profound meaning.
It has action, romance, horror, hope, despair and, most of all,
humanity. It has sci-fi and politics yet, unlike a lot of books on the
market, they are not "in your face" and are completely approachable.
Due
to elements of violence and some light romantic scenes, I would
recommend it for 13+. That being said, I would recommend it for ANYONE
13+ of any reading taste or background: as a bookseller and a recent
library school graduate, these are the books I find easiest to recommend
to anyone I meet.
I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the
third and final book to come out. After reading Catching Fire, I know
you will be too.