Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

In the aftermath of Katniss and Peeta winning the Hunger Games, Katniss must come to terms with the consequences of thwarting the Capitol. Leading up to the Quarter Quell, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the games, she must prove to everyone, including President Snow, that she's head-over-heels in love with Peeta and that her "cousin" Gale means nothing to her. There will be dire consequences for Katniss and the people she loves if she fails.

Reading Catching Fire made me angry, and there's nothing I like better than a dystopian novel making me angry. Down with the President! Chunks of this reminded me of the sweet parts of Nineteen Eighty-four, the middle third in which Winston and Julia have their dalliances in the forest and the room above the shop, talking carelessly and indulging in love-making, a big no-no in Oceania. (I've always rather fancied going to a party dressed in overalls with a red sash tied around my waist like a member of the Anti-Sex League, but I think the reference might be a tad obscure.) I half expected Katniss to spy a microphone hidden in the woods or for a painting to fall down in her house revealing a telescreen inhabited by President Snow sporting a Stalin mo. "TWO MINUTES HATE!!" Unlike in The Hunger Games, I found the romance in Catching Fire to be touching and thoroughly heart-wrenching. The love triangle isn't just about who Katniss thinks is spunky and can play up to the audience with; it becomes a matter of life and death for many people.

The pacing starts off a tad slowly, but it's hardly a disadvantage. It's like the calm before the storm, the ominous quiet before everything "catches fire". Fantastic title, by the way! It works literally and metaphorically on several levels. Where does Collins get her ideas? Such imaginitive ways to kill people. So sadistic and flamboyant! Rather like the thoughtless indulgences of the people of the Capitol. While Collins borrows from your typical grey, stony totalitarian dystopian novels, she also throws in a bit the destructive extravagance of Brave New World and Westerfeld's Uglies as a wonderful contrast between the bleakness of several districts and the frivilousness of the Capitol.

Gale remains a mystery. Peeta I have gained rather more respect for. He's the one to watch in book three I think. Gale needs to really pick up his game or he's going to fall off the radar for good! So have I picked a team? You bet I have!


Yep. The boys just pale into comparison to Katniss's awesomeness. This girl rocks. I don't think I've ever adored a female protagonist so much. I love hearing what's going on in her head, the way she pieces things together. Her voice (and Collins' writing) is thoroughly readable. And boy is she feisty when she's angry. I think I feel a girl crush coming on.

It's the people that really make Catching Fire, and not only the main cast of characters. There's a real sense of the masses, how people are reacting to this or that bit of footage; the unrest; the partying. Every bit character has a personality sketched in just a few short sentences, and they all have a purpose in Collins' grand scheme. (I had to look up who Seneca Crane was, but the bit with the dummy was genius!) Those who called The Hunger Games "simple" can't do the same for book two.

Catching Fire goes off with a bang. I adore it.

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If you've reviewed Catching Fire or know someone who has, leave a link in my comments as I've been avoiding them all like the plague until I could read the book myself!

Pre-order excitement

I just pre-ordered my copy of Catching Fire! I don't like the Australian edition at all. I want the hardback with the gorgeous red cover so have just paid a small fortune to have it shipped over from the US with the a hardcover copy of The Hunger Games. Plus I don't trust an online store to pack it properly--I've received too many bent books through the post recently so bookshop prices it is. I don't care that it's a quarter of a week's pay, IT'S WORTH IT.

Six weeks to go. (The Australian release date is September 7, not 1, so I guess my shipped edition will arrive about the time the soft-covers hit the stores.)

No don't tell me! *covers eyes*

Does any one else love reviews and blog topics about their most anticipated books, but then can't bring themselves to read them?

How do I know which books I'm excited about then, you ask? Well, sometimes they're the second in a series, like Catching Fire, but sometimes I've just seen a cover, read a tidbit of blurb and fallen in love, like Swoon by Nina Malkin. Only a tidbit, mind. Blurbs give far too much away, in my opinion--sometimes as much as the first half of the book!

So for this reason I'm not watching any trailers of Catching Fire, and I'm not reading anyone's predictions. Adele posted hers the other day. I read one, felt my stomach flip over and immediately closed the browser.

I have the bizarre idea that a book will somehow be "spoiled" if I know too much about it. Which is why I am simply aghast at that curious breed of reader who reads the last page first.

This fear of mine, you might have guessed, often leads to a lot of disappointment. I've gotten all sorts of cues from the cover (spooky trees! bows and arrows! sumptuous medieval gowns!) and then the book doesn't follow through with its promises.

But better a book put down in disappointment than a fabulous book spoiled. (Do I need therapy??)

Waiting On Wednesday

I'm quite excited about my very first Waiting on Wednesday. This meme was started by The Story Siren.

My Waiting On Wednesday includes books I'm waiting to afford!!

First up is Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. If you've read my previous posts you'll know I loved The Hunger Games. There's still no cover for this yet, but I'm hoping it will be as good as the cover of book one--the hardback edition at any rate. The paperback here has a ghastly "fold your own" cover that shows either Katniss or Peeta, and the colours are dreadful.

Then there's Skarlet by Thomas Emson. I think this one might be more adult than YA as it involves clubbers and recreational drugs that turn people in vampires, but what a plot!

Next is Swoon by Nina Malkin. From fishpond: "Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut--until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost." What a name and what a cover! This is a May release so not long to wait now.

Now, an Australian book! Arrival (Strangers of Paragor, Book One) is by Charlotte McConaghy and out under Black Dog Books. It was released in March and McConaghy is so young! Apparently she started writing this book when she was in her teens.

From the Black Dog Books website: “There will come a time when greatness is needed. Strength, passion… goodness. For in the land of Paragor an oppressor travels closer. Four is the sacred number, and it is only by looking beyond ourselves that we will find salvation, and only through love that we will defeat the darkness that threatens to consume us forever…”


E-e-pic.

The best book so far this year

So it was actually released last year, but we got it quite late in Australia, I believe, and it's only just now appearing in paperback.

I'm talking, of course, about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

When Katniss's younger sister gets chosen by ballot to represent District Twelve in the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Competing means almost certain death: twenty-four teenagers are pitted against each other and must fight to the death. There can only be one winner. It's a world where reality TV has taken a menacing turn and is used by the government to remind those who rebelled just who is in charge.

I love a good dystopian adventure, and I love a bit of romance along the way. Katniss is a strong and likeable character, and charmingly naive when it comes to boys. The build-up is very effective--the games don't start until halfway through the book, and by then the reader is thoroughly invested in Katniss. Collins doesn't pull any punches when it comes to violence. Teenagers get killed, often in highly unpleasant ways. She really knows how to set a scene. I can see this book in my head like a film.

Many of the scenes are quite harrowing even when not a lot is actually happening. Katniss standing alone waiting to be thrust into the games arena brought tears to my eyes and anger at a government that would exploit its youth in such a way.

Another book I read recently in which teenagers as a demographic are victimised was Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

Again, it was a very thought-provoking and moving (and downright horrific towards the end) book. But, maybe because I'm not a teenager and no longer feel like the whole world is against me, I found myself asking, why this age group? Why not adults in their twenties, or eleven-year-olds? The main reason is, of course, because the books are aimed at teenagers, and teenagers like to read about kids their own age. But I had hoped for a little more reason than this, from both books.

AND BEWARE! Nowhere on the cover of The Hunger Games is it mentioned that this is the first book in a series. I raced towards the end anticipating a huge pay-off, but was left high and dry by the four little words, 'End of Book One'. I was SO FRUSTRATED and wanted to smack the blurbing editor around the head with my hard copy edition.

That aside, The Hunger Games is definitely one to file under Books I Wish I Had Written. I can't wait for Catching Fire.