A warning before you read. I might have certain spoilers in here, nothing major but it’s just a warning in case you want to save yourself totally for the book and not be spoiled. Okay, now that I have got that covered, let’s move on. So last night, I squeed like a ten year old high on MnM’s about The Hunger Games. And I read ridiculously fast so I finished Catching Fire today. It took me longer to get into this book than the first one and at a singular moment, I did wonder if I should just, you know, forget it. But no, I wanted to know what was happening, how things were going to shape up. So I grabbed my blankie and got into Don Juan (my bed) and read. And oh my god, you guys. While it did take a longer time to reel me in, once I was in the story’s grasp, I was flung around and around, oscillated, vacillated. With every turn and twist, I alternately gasped or awwed. It was intense. Okay, I know in one of my reading notes over at GR I whined that Katniss’s ambiguity about her feelings for the two guys in her life was driving me crazy. Actually it still is. And I think we have reached a moment (okay fine, I have reached the moment) where I have to take sides. I choose Peeta. It seems like the easy choice but seriously. Seriously. I know there’s always the thing that nice guys never win the girls but that’s rubbish. If I had a man who cared about half as much as he does for Katniss, why…okay I don’t know what I’d do but it’d be something intense. I am quite sure that Gale loves her just as much but I, as the reader, am led where the author wants me to go and I have a feeling that where she wants me to go is to Peeta. When Katniss chooses Gale, I take it bravely but all the while, inside, I’m like YOU STUPID WOMAN cuz I’m mature like that. But then as the story continues, I notice the changes and I appreciate how the author lets me make the discoveries on my own instead of painting it out bright and fresh for me. I love how villainous the President is. And I love how Ms. Collins paces the story so precisely. We can be taut with tension at the Games or smirking at other times. The new characters are also well characterized and Catching Fire sustains the excitement, adventure and thrill of The Hunger Games while managing to up the ante of the game to a whole new level. Catching Fire portrays the lives and actions of a people who have long been suppressed by those who seek to exploit them and their resources. It’s about taking a step to becoming a people they have the potential to be. It’s a story of a girl who finds that she is much more than she thought she was or is sure she will be able to be.
