Double Review: End of a Revolution

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Second book in the Hunger Games trilogy

5 stars

Katniss Everdeen is the girl on fire, the mockingjay. Everybody in Panem knows her name and she is seen as a beacon of hope for the uprising. Katniss and Peeta travel around the Districts in the Victory Tour. They see glimpses of an uprising, but nothing prepares them for the Quarter Quell. A special kind of Hunger Games that happens every 25 years and this year the Reaping will be one the victors won’t forget. Katniss and Peeta will have to face another Game and this time both of them could die. I always take forever to get to finishing series. I finally decided to pick up Catching Fire two years after reading The Hunger Games because the movie was coming out. I finished the book on the opening movie day and then quickly jumped into Mockingjay. Suffice to say that I love this trilogy. I really enjoyed The Hunger Games. I wouldn’t consider it one of my favorite series or trilogies if I had only read the first book, but for me Catching Fire was what made me fall in love with this trilogy. I adore the story painted in Catching Fire. The horrors Katniss and Peeta face in the 75th Hunger Games are terrifying and it was a thrill to be back in them. I won’t lie, the book does drag. Chapters just on the Capitol parties and their weird drugs, extravagant clothes, and Katniss’s body preparations are what make up the whole first part. I didn’t hate that part at all, but I didn’t love it and I was going to rate this book lower until everything picked back up. Collins knows how to write intense scenes of fear and suspense. There wasn’t a moment in these games where I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, gripping my book tight in fear of what might happen next.


The main female character is Katniss. I like Katniss a lot more in Catching Fire than I did in THG. She’s a lot stronger and she has a purpose. Besides needing to stay alive, Katniss has more goals than just keeping herself alive. She seems more human. I adored her new relationship with Peeta. The rooftop scene is one of my favorite scenes in the whole entire trilogy. It’s beautiful, simple and it showed the blossoming love of what could be between her and Peeta. It made my inner fangirl happy. Can we talk about Katniss’s dress? The descriptions of that dress during the interview were absolutely breathtaking.



Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 9

The main male characters are Peeta and Gale. Peeta has my heart. I love Peeta. He cares about people and he has a big heart, which isn’t a very good thing to have in the Hunger Games, but his heart makes me love him. Peeta had several scenes in this book that made me fall in love with him entirely. Gale on the other hand has always annoyed. They are two very different men. Gale is a jerk in disguise. Katniss doesn’t see his jerkiness because she’s is just as much of a jerk. They are very brutish people. I do love some of Gale’s aspects, but I never really liked his character. 


(Didn’t Josh get hotter? I think so and he looks more Peeta-ish.)


Swoon Worthy Scale: Peeta- 9 Gale- 6.5

The Villain- President Snow is a tyrant and I love his absolute need to destroy Katniss and all she represents. I wouldn’t want to meet him anytime in the real world, but since I’ll never find myself in Panem I think he’s a horrifying villain who shows mercy to few but he will stop at nothing to keep people in line.


Villain Scale: 8.5

There are so many characters to love in this series, especially in Catching Fire. There are old characters: Prim, Katniss’s mom, Effie, Haymitch, Cenna, and Katniss’s three stylists. There are new characters: Finnick, Johanna, Beetee, Wiress, Mags, and Plutarch. I love all these characters in some way and more than others. Finnick and Johanna being my favorite but that’s beside the point.


Character Scale: 9

The scenes in this book were intense and the writing captivating. I absolutely adore this book and instead of it suffering from second book syndrome it is a solid book. If you have read The Hunger Games, but haven’t finished the trilogy pick up this book ASAP! You won’t regret it and if you do you can fuss at me, but I’m sure you’ll love it.


Cover Thoughts: It’s so shiny and red. The cover in person is striking. I love. It’s my favorite cover of the trilogy. I don’t love the colors, but I do like that they fit the title and overall book.




Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Third book in the Hunger Games trilogy

4.5 stars

Katniss Everdeen survived the 75th Hunger Games. District Twelve doesn’t exist anymore and the survivors find themselves in District 13. The revolution is beginning. Sacrifices will be made and nothing in Panem will ever be the same. I’m sad that this trilogy is over and I remember the feeling of dread hanging over my head when I was finishing. I originally gave this book a solid 5 stars, but it’s been months since I read it in November and I’ve thought about it. While I love Mockingjay the ending almost killed my love for this trilogy. I’ll get to that later.


The main female character is Katniss. I did not like Katniss very much in Mockingjay. In fact there were times when I absolutely hated her. My love for Katniss just was completely gone in certain parts. Of course, I was still invested in her life and the people around her, but her decisions made me loathe her. I hated how she changed for the worst and not for the best. Her change may have been necessary for the Capitol to fall, but I think she should’ve changed in a different way. I think I just missed the old Katniss. This new Katniss was an empty shell with extreme PTSD. I couldn’t love her the same way I used to. It was a very love-hate relationship with her in this book. There were times that I really loved her though. The Hanging Tree part was one of my favorites in the whole trilogy.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 7.5

The main male characters are Peeta and Gale. Gale is present in this book a lot. He is there the whole entire time. I think it’s safe to say that I dislike Gale in this book much more than I did before. He is a cold man and he just wants to take people down. Gale doesn’t care if he hurts innocents and that is what made me lose all respect for him. Peeta was absent for a very long time and when he came back he was broken. The Capitol had broken him and poor Peeta. I miss the old Peeta. I still love Peeta, but it’s not the same. I loved the Real-or-Not-Real game he would play with Katniss every now and then. Those brief moments felt like them rekindling their love. Kind of.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Gale- 3 Peeta- 8.5

The Villain- So many twists and who’s the real bad guy in the novel. There were a lot of questions that were repeatedly brought up towards the end of the revolution. I loved the takedown at the end. I thought it was very well done. I saw it coming, but it was still well done.


Villain Scale: 8.5

So many characters died in this one. We lost a lot of great characters. It was sad. Incredibly sad and I loved every new character brought in including the two Avox brothers. The wedding between Finnick and Annie was such an uplifting part. There were a lot of happy times and a lot of sad times in this novel. The sad outweigh the happy by many, but this Panem and Panem is a world where bad things happen all the time.


Character Scale: 9

 

The ending… I was very disappointed in it. Katniss moped about in her PTSD state for two or three chapters. The epilogue redeems the ending though. I’m still a little pissed at some of the choices Collins made, but I love this trilogy very much and I’m happy I finally finished it.


Cover Thoughts: This cover is beautiful. It’s not my favorite, but the color scheme makes it look very striking and eye catching.