Book Review: Catching Fire

(as usual, everything is from Amazon)

4 STARS

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.

~~~

Well, like with The Hunger Games, I'm a little late in reading this. And as with the first book, the thing that got me to pick it up was the movie trailer.

I think I liked this book more than the first one. I like political intrigue and sometimes I wish we could have seen more of that in this book. It looks like the movie will show us more of that so I'm excited to see it.

I found Katniss even more believable in this book than the first one. She's still in survival mode and now she's even more torn between Peeta and Gale, as well as torn between whether or not she should be in love with anyone at all. It's nice too see a love triangle like this where the girl isn't always consumed with lovey dovey thoughts.

I'm also impressed with the characterization of the other side characters. They're fleshed out nicely and I hope we get to see more of them in Mockingjay.

Oddly enough, Catching Fire has drawn me in more than The Hunger Games did. So I'll be reading Mockingjay soon. 

The Hunger Games Book Review

Alright, so my goal for this year is to update my blogs once a week.  I'm thinking this one will be updated every Tuesday.  So here we go!

The Hunger Games  By: Suzanne Collins  4 out of 5 stars.

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed."

I read this book a little over a month ago now.  It was the first book I got on my new Kindle Fire. :)  It had been recommended to me by lots and lots of people.  And then while I was looking at it online I saw the movie trailer and decided it was worth a look.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 for a couple reasons.  5 out of 5 requires that I absolutely fall in love with the book, so this getting a 4 out of 5 isn't really bad.  I was able to read the book in one day.  It's such a quick read because the language is simple and Collins writes it in such a way that you can't put it down.  Every chapter ends with a cliff hanger so you have to keep reading or it will drive you mad.

I liked the main character, Katniss, she was well rounded and believable.  I also admired her total focus on her goals.  But I was not a big fan of Peeta; he just seemed weak compared to Kat.  I also found the world this story was set in to be believable.  It seems extreme at first, a government that requires people to sacrifice their teenagers to the viewing of all seems really strange.  But given the back story of the collapse of civilization as we know it, it makes sense to me.  Also, the action scenes were very well done.  I can see how this will translate into a movie very well.

Although this isn't the kind of thing I'd normally pick up to read (my favorite genres are adult or YA fantasy) I did like it.  And 90% of the reason I read it was because the movie trailer looked really cool and I figured I should read the book before I go see the movie in March.

So, overall, 4 out of 5 stars.  I enjoyed the book, it was entertaining, but I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series.  It didn't grab me that hard.

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As I said before, I'll be updating this blog every Tuesday.  And next week I'll be reviewing The Help.  Again, if you have any suggestions of books I should read and review, please leave a comment.  I'm trying to broaden my reading horizons, and I'm always looking for good suggestions. :)

Happy Tuesday!