Review of Book Two in The Hunger Games Trilogy
The 74th annual Hunger Games has ended and the victory belongs to Katniss and Peeta. Despite the excitement and celebration of District 12 there is an underlying feeling that the Capitol will find a way to curtail any threat of rebellion. Katniss knows her defiance has lit the kindling of something greater than herself and she is ever alert and anxious about her surroundings.Katniss returns home to find her relationships with Peeta and Gale strained and confusing. She is trapped between wanting her independence and submitting to her status as the symbol of a rebellion. To further complicate her life, Katniss receives an unexpected visit from President Snow who advises Katniss to calm the uprising. He issues thinly disguised threats warning her that if she cannot stop the rapidly growing revolution, then those she loves most will be killed.
Sixteen-year- old Katniss must now decide if she’s willing to lead an uprising against the oppressive, volatile, and dangerous Capitol or continue a charade that would require her to marry Peeta and for the remainder of her life worry about the threat of the Capitol. Although she wants to run away, Katniss ultimately decides to protect her loved ones by becoming engaged to Peeta and continuing on with the victory tour. Despite her attempts to appease the Capitol, she is unable to stop the districts’ increasing demonstrations of rebellion.
In a surprising change of events, the Capitol announces that for the 75th annual Hunger Games, there will be a reuniting of past victors. Once again Katniss and Peeta are thrown back into the arena where they must fight to the death, and this time their defiance will not be in question.
Catching Fire sets the stage for a major uprising against the Capitol and solidifies Katniss’s role as the symbol of the rebellion - as mocking jay. In this second installment of the exciting series, readers will finally learn more about the twisted plots of the Capitol, understand the mystery of District 13, and see a clear development of a love triangle.
