Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

From Goodreads, 

"SPARKS ARE IGNITING.
FLAMES ARE SPREADING.
AND THE CAPITAL WANTS REVENGE.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. Katniss is about to be tested as never before. "

Goodreads - Catching Fire

Awards and Nominations: 

• Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Book and Young Adult Series (2009)
• Locus Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Book (2010)
• Golden Duck Award for Young Adult (Hal Clement Award (2010)
• Children's Choice Book Award for Teen Choice Book of the Year (2010)
• Indies Choice Book Award for Young Adult (2010)
• Teen Read Award Nominee for Best Read (2010)
• DABWAHA Romance Tournament for Best Young Adult (2010)
• Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas Nominee for Mejor novela extranjera perteneciente a saga (2010)
• Soaring Eagle Book Award (2011)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best of the Best (2018)

I clearly remember getting my The Hunger Games book when I was in school.  It was part of the library club as I mentioned last week.  I'm pretty sure that Catching Fire was already released when I finished the first book.  I don't remember any kind of excitement or hype with the book.  And I most definitely remember the long drawn out wait to get the final book of the series and then trying to avoid people who were ahead of you in the book.  I'm so glad I got this book finished and I'm beyond ready to read the prequel to this series. 

Catching Fire picks up just months after Katniss and Peeta won the 74th Hunger Games.  They are trying to settle into some sort of normal now that they are victors.  Katniss is plagued by nightmares and tries to find refuge in the woods and with Gale.  But the Victory Tour is upon Peeta and Katniss and they must pretend to be in love once again.  President Snow pays a visit to Katniss before the tour and warns Katniss that people are rebelling based on her actions of the berries during the games.  Katniss decides to try to protect everyone she can, but then a wrench is thrown into her plans.  The tributes for the 75th hunger games must be pulled from the winning tributes.  This means that Katniss and either Haymitch or Peeta are going back into the arena, and Katniss will be unable to protect anyone. 

Halfway through this book was when I really started to see a change in character in Katniss.  In the first book, she was always portrayed as being a tough girl who didn't need anyone to help her.  She had taught herself to not rely on anyone and to be independent for herself and her family.  But a change starts to happen with her due to her experience in the games.  She is experiencing clear trauma from witnessing deaths and having a hand in some.  She has nightmares and only finds solace in Peeta.  Peeta truly and honestly loves Katniss, but Katniss really starts to make that turn of being independent but also being taken care of.  It is a big arc, but I'm excited to see it wrap up in the final book.  This isn't something you see a lot in books with female leads.  They usually are head over heels in love with someone and the story centers around that or they are so independent that they don't let anyone near them.  I love that Collins shows that you can be a girl and be strong, but that you can also love and be loved at the same time. 

I mentioned in my reviews of Thunderhead that there is the ugly stepchild middle book.  The books are the piece that links the uprising in one to the conclusion in three.  This book is no different.  There is a lot of build-up happening in preparation for the Quarter Quell.  The first third of the book was dull and boring.  The next third was in preparation for the games, and the final was the games itself.  I felt like Katniss and Peeta didn't really play the games like they did in the first book.  We didn't even find out what was in the other sections of the clock in the arena.  It just would have been better with more details on the games or giving other perspectives from the Gamemaker or from President Snow.  The movie gives alternate views and we can interpret and determine what was going on while they were in the arena.  

I've also seen and heard a lot of people saying that the prequel should have been Haymitch's story of being in the 50th Hunger Games.  I felt the same until I reread this book.  Katniss and Peeta watch his tape and his games.  We get a full play by play and learn how he won.  I now don't see any real reason to have a book for him.  His story was told in this book, it just wasn't told from his perspective.  

I did like this book an equal amount to the first.  It was a little dry at the beginning, but the storyline held beautifully and picked up as the book progressed.  I'm ready to get through the next book and finish watching the movies.  I give this 5 stars.  Definitely read it if you are reading through the series.