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Book Review of Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Bk 2)

Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Bk 2)
reviewed on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


While I've never been clinically diagnosed I'm fairly certain that somewhere deep down inside of me the mysterious OCD monster hibernates...surfacing every so often to ensure all of my books are perfectly arranged on my bookshelves (in alphabetical order by each authors' last name of course), all my mp3s are within the correct format and file structure within my massive ITunes library, and that I never, ever read two books by the same author back to back.

Perhaps I relish the variety of mixing up authors & genres to keep things fresh, or perhaps I am a tad bit crazy, but for as long as I've been able to read I've refrained from reading the same author twice in a row. That is, until now.

Damn you Suzanne Collins. Surely you realized that as "Catching Fire" abruptly ended with the ultimate of all cliffhanger endings that there was no way in hell that I'd be able to keep myself from immediately reading "Mockingjay", which was already perched so perfectly alphabetically and innocently on my nearby bookshelf? Damn you....

I'll be perfectly honest, I was preparing to be disappointed by "Catching Fire", simply because I didn't think Collins would even come close to replicating the magic of "Hunger Games". "Hunger Games" was just so fresh and intriguing and fan-freaking-tastic-ible...and while "Catching Fire" may not have matched its predecessor it comes damn close.

Unlike with "Hunger Games" I found the first 100 or so pages of "Catching Fire" to be a tad bit slow as Collins recaps the life and times of Katniss since the end of the Hunger Games. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the start of this book, but rather they were not nearly as engaging as when we followed Katniss through the Games. Not to fear though...as rumors of district uprisings begin trickling into District 12 and the 75th Hunger Games begin I found myself tearing through the pages at a ravenous pace.

I'll refrain from discussing the book in greater detail for fear of giving away any of the serpentine plot twists, but suffice it to say that Collins does not disappoint when all is said and done. "Catching Fire" is an incredibly solid follow up to "Hunger Games" and I'm eager to crack open "Mockingjay" later tonight, even as the protests of my inner OCD monster continue to bubble to the surface.

Damn you Suzanne. But thank you nonetheless.