Katniss Everdeen won The Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark by suggesting they would both eat poison berries rather than one kill the other. This was an act of defiance and now Katniss is a symbol of that defiance for all the districts.

Katniss and Peeta are to go on their Victory Tour when Pres. Snow shows up to warn Katniss he expects a continuation of her show of love for Peeta and she must deliver or else. Katniss doesn't really know how she feels for Peeta or for her hunting buddy, Gale.

With the Quarter Quell games coming up, Katniss is starting to wonder about the Capitol and its decisions. Then the rules change and Katniss and Peeta are thrown into the arena once more.

This is a great sequel to the first book. I felt the tension and Katniss' agonizing decisions really brought plenty of page-turning moments. Both Katniss' indecision and her rash and hasty decisions are so typical for her age and are portrayed so well. What I had a little problem with is the abrupt ending. Yes, it is a steep cliff the reader is balanced on but I had to read the last bit several times before comprehending how I got up to the cliff in the first place.

While many second books in a trio tend to be the bridge between the very good beginning and the big finish of an ending- Catching Fire stands all on it's own.

We still dont see much in character development as far as Katniss goes, but the quickly paced dramatic turn of events will have readers staring at the text in shock.

The mockinjay has taken on a life of it's own, and Katniss the ever avoiding hero seems to be the last to find out.

As with the last book, difficult concepts are addressed, latent criticism of much of the world today, and blatant out right caricatures of world events/leaders still stand.

The games are different this time, genius in design. Far more terrifying than the first book. And of course... we're left hanging!

Catching Fire is the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It starts with the Victors' Tour of Katniss and Peeta. While going from district to another, the atmosphere of rebellion becomes stronger. The Capitol doesn't like these social tensions, so President Snow tries to use Katniss' influence to calm the districts' populations. He finally forces Katniss and Peeta to go back to the arena for the 75th Hunger Games.

The action has no end, the author did'nt make endless pauses in the story for descriptions and I really like it. Every chapter is more exciting than the other! I couldn't stop reading!

4.5 stars

******SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 1******

Katniss and Peeta are home in District 12 and must try to return to life as normal - or as normal as possible, as winners of the most current Hunger Games. But, Katniss's rebellion at the end of the Games that ended up with two winners for the first time has created some unrest and potential rebellion against the Capitol. That is something the Capitol definitely doesn't want, so they have plans to quash it.

******END SPOILERS******

I thought this one took longer to really get going. I probably would have rated the first half "only" 4 stars, but it really picked up in the 2nd half. So, ultimately, I didn't like it as much as the first one, but it's still a really good series.