Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Oops, missed my Wednesday goal.

For those of you who haven't read Hunger Games yet, I'm going to try and review this carefully.

So, I had to start Catching Fire the day after I finished Hunger Games because it is so intriguing. But, I have to say that the beginning seemed a bit slow for me. Of course I was going on very little sleep, but I just couldn't get into it for a bit. THEN I did not care for the big surprise, and got a little annoyed with the whole thing.

While I'm at it, another thing that annoyed me was Katniss's self-doubt. I just kept thinking, come on, you have to know you're amazing. You know? But sometimes I think that comes with age and that I need to remember that she's just a teenager. Oh and also, I was so annoyed that it took them SOOO long to ask Haymitch how he won his season. It seemed like something they would have asked in the first book. But, they finally do. And it is important, like you knew it would be.

Now that I have my criticism off my chest, I would recommend this book. But only if you liked the first one. Duh. I did like it. I think the characters are very interesting. The plot is strong, and it is cool to see how the events from the first book have affected the second book. Did it seem weird to anyone else that Peeta's mom is never mentioned? I think the way the media handles the events in the story is very telling. I think it is good social commentary.

For some reason I couldn't help but think of the Twilight series when I read this book. Like Gale vs. Peeta. Katniss having self-esteem things. Doing forbidden things, but they seem morally right. Maybe when you are old, all young adult books seem to evolve around related themes.

So, those of you who've read it, how do you think it compares? I did like it, I did. But as I sit down to write this, it's the negatives that are coming to mind.