Tag Archives: Catching Fire

Catching Fire: Same Song, Second Verse*

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* A little bit louder and a little bit worse

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Pages: 391
Rating: ***

Catching Fire is disappointing. I remember thinking that even as I finished it the first time. I raced through it desperate for more of Katniss’s story, but even then the novel felt like filler, just taking up time until the events of the third book.

The first 200 pages frustrated me. I found myself skimming more often than reading. The love triangle is heavily featured, but to me that is not interesting. I think Katniss’s relationship to Prim is much more interesting (and the real love story of the books). However, their interactions are very limited and of no real consequence in Catching Fire.

There’s a lot of exposition, too much telling and not enough showing. This is a problem I also had with The Hunger Games, but I am more willing to forgive it there because I see it as necessary for the world building. Here it just seems lazy.

Catching Fire is much more action-driven and less about character development than The Hunger Games, and I found it a much less compelling reread than The Hunger Games. I mostly kept reading to remember the plot not because I felt invested in the story. Some of the new characters are interesting, but very one dimensional – with the exception of Finnick.

The conflicts all fall flat. There are only so many times repeating one conflict can be compelling  before it just becomes tiresome (Ross and Rachel, anyone?). In The Hunger Games, the question is always how will Katniss win? But the conflicts and situations all differ in interesting ways and lead the plot forward to her eventual victory. In Catching Fire the conflict is what terrible horror will this portion of the jungle bring? Oh, what happened was terrible. How terrible. And should Katniss and Peeta leave the other tributes or not? Let’s just waffle on that subject for the last 200 pages of the book. Is she in love with Gale or Peeta? Why is this even a question?

The cliffhanger ending of the book will keep you wanting more. And once you get through the filler, it does a decent job of setting up the action for Mockingjay. However, there is a marked downgrade in quality from The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.

Catching Fire: A Sequel with Less Sizzle

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A lot of people I’ve met and a lot of opinions I’ve read on the Internet state that both sequels to The Hunger Games are complete misses and not worth reading. I do not agree with these statements, but I do think both books lack the brilliance of their predecessor. I also don’t know anyone, and can’t even bring myself to imagine someone, with the willpower to get to the end of The Hunger Games and not keep reading.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy reading Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins. Many people rate this as their favorite in the series. However, the fact that I liked the book had more to do with the continued connection I felt with the characters.  The character development carried on throughout the book. I learned more, and therefore cared more, about most of the characters. My favorite parts of the book (don’t worry, no spoilers) are learning about Haymitch’s Hunger Games, the newly introduced past victors, especially Finnick, and Peeta.

Even more than in the first book, Peeta begins to represent everything good. Peace. Love. Compassion. The Arts. Maybe that is simplistic of me, but he seems at most junctures to stand of for what is right and what is good. Of all the characters, he seems very sure of himself. I know there are people out there that like Gale more, but if I found someone that meant I didn’t have nightmares anymore I would marry them on the spot.

The heightened political aspects of the book also stand out as a strong point in the sequel. You will learn more about the Capital and the other districts. Katniss and Peeta, as victors, take on a new role in the political landscape of Panem.

Katniss is, perhaps, my biggest disappointment in the novel.  While she is a very active person in the Hunger Games, in Catching Fire everything seems to happen to her. She makes few decisions, and mostly goes with the flow. And flow isn’t going anywhere good.

The Prim storyline also seems to disappear. Her relationship with her sister is overshadowed with the love triangle, in a way that rings untrue to me. I think I wrote in my last review that Katniss has a need to be needed. But no need except an economic need is established between the sisters. Once she has money and Prim has enough to eat the need evaporates. As a sister, I don’t’ believe there is no emotional need exists between them. This makes me question the entire arc of the first book and the series.

The question that sticks in my mind is whether these aspects of the book are intentional or not. As a reader it doesn’t really matter to me, but as a writer I am curious. I can’t help wondering if Collins didn’t know how to follow-up her hit novel or if she is making a comment on the reality of being a hero. I probably will never find out.

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