Catching Fire

This is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I really wish I had been able to read them all in a row, but I didn't have my greedy little hands on all of them at once. This book picks up about a month after the last book left off. Katniss is back in District 12 and is essentially leading a double life. According to the Capitol, she is love with Peeta. According to her, she is in love with Gale and is unsure about her feelings toward Peeta. She is frightened about the safety of her family, Gale's family, and (to a lesser extent) Peeta's family. Her fears seem realistic, as the president of Panem visits her and threatens Gale. Every time she thinks that she is doing something to buy herself and/or the people she loves a little safety, it either backfires or is rendered useless.

After a series of events, it is determined that Peeta and Katniss have to compete in the Hunger Games again against champions from previous years. It seems clear that the Capitol wants Katniss dead, as uprisings in other districts are being blamed on her. Once the competition begins, it is clear that something is amiss. Rather than trying to kill her and Peeta, several other tributes are going out of their way to keep them alive. After three days and a number of deaths, Katniss brought down the forcefield around the arena.

Katniss woke up connected to machines and tubes and thought she was still a pawn in the Capitol's games. Instead, she was a pawn in the rebel's games. Her face, and her Mockingjay, were symbols that had organized a revolution. She and two other competitors were rescued, but Peeta is thought to be dead. (My money is on him popping back up at some point.) She was reunited with Gale, her mother, and her sister, but she learned that District 12 had been destroyed.

This book is as engaging as the first. You will want to sit and read it all at once. I am very eager to read the third one, but I have to wait to get it, so I have to read something else in the interim.