Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction (series, #2)

Usually sequels are lackluster compared to their wildly fast-paced and fresh predecessors. But, Catching Fire proves to be one of the few that defies the sophomore slump effect.

Although the beginning dragged on and on—and I raise my same complaints about Collins’ excessive fixation on minor details again—, the narrative quickly picks up as flickers of subversion and rebellion ripple throughout the Districts. For 75 years, the Capitol has used each District as a mere cogwheel, a tool only useful enough to produce a sheaf of paper here, a basket of fish there, a stack of robes over there. Under the regime of the Capitol, each District traditionally never interacts with another District, except for participation in the annual Games. Now, as they brew with revolt, I was reminded of a principle of Gestalt psychology: that the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts. I am looking forward to reading the final book about what becomes of this new unity.

But, before that, let’s talk about our heroine, Katniss, shall we? In a rather predictable turn of events, she enjoys merely a short-lived victory lifestyle. Thrown into another inferno, Katniss comes across as more vulnerable in Catching Fire, and, for some reason, that endears her to me more and makes her stronger than any of her displays of tough callousness in the first book. I hope to see her character mature more, because Katniss as a 17-year-old is still not only headstrong and defiant but so dumb at times too. She seems so decisive in the Games arena, yet she cannot resolve her love triangle, ultimately dragging both boys into an emotional and life-endangering mess. (However, this surely must be Collins’ aim—to elongate our pain and to preserve the interaction for the final book). I expect more development of Gale’s character and some surprises coming from Peeta, too. As for Finnick—joy! another key male character thrown into the mix. I can see why many of friends gush over this bronzed, athletic, selfless Adonis-Achilles-Hercules heman. If Katniss is not careful, life could get a lot more complicated later. For even in the midst of dangerous uprisings and the prospects of death by the hands of brutes, sweet, sweet adolescence is still marked by dilemmas over boys.

Rating: Exceeded expectations; I want the third book NOW