Catching Fire

Goodreads Summary:
Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

My Review:
The second book in the three book Hunger Game series. Even though it's the middle book, it's by far my favorite. Loose ends are beginning to get tied up. Love interests are heating up and the games are getting exciting. There are so many twists and turns in this one it's almost impossible to put down.

I really don't know how to review this one without giving out spoilers for the first, but I want to try my best and I implore anyone who wants to read this series to not read the blurbs on the books after the first one. I was really upset to discover that the blurb on the back of the last book, Mockingjay, totally ruined Catching Fire for me by giving away the biggest and most important plot point in the book.

Anyway, this is a continuation of The Hunger Games and you get to follow the main characters as they become central to a rebellion they inadvertently started as well as becoming pawns for the capitol. Katniss is the main focus throughout and she never loses momentum and continually finds a way to provide for her family. This character is quite endearing. I wish there were more positive female role models like her. She is strong, focused, and more mature than most adults, which makes this book so powerful and ultimately so fulfilling.
4/5 stars