Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It continues the story of Katniss Everdeen after she wins in the arena as the sequel to the The Hunger Games. I actually managed to finish reading it before the new semester started.

After being crowned the victors of the 74th Hunger Game, Katniss and Peter move in their new houses in Victor's Village. Life goes on but things are never the same for Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Peeta learns bitterly that the affection Katniss displays in the arena is just a show she puts up to survive and win the game while Gale is distancing himself from Katniss. Then there is Victor Tour which causes major anxiety for Katniss before she finds out that she, her family and her loved ones are in big trouble. She is being threatened by President Snow from Capitol for outsmarting Hunger Games and undermining his control when she challenges to change the rule of the game to keep her and Peeta alive (instead of either one of them). It is seen as a form of rebellion and most importantly it incites rebellions in other districts which Katniss finds out later. Hence, a special edition of Quarter Quell which is held on every twenty-fifth anniversary is dictated to reap from the existing pool of victors, which brings Katniss and Peeta, along with the past victors of the game back into the arena. This is served as a reminder that even the strongest (the past victors) among the rebels (people from the districts) cannot overcome the power of the Capitol.

That is the first half of the story. The love-triangle is seriously putting me off, but the huge difference is that I no longer see it merely a story about game like the first book. I mean the theme is still survival, but what strikes me even more is government control which reminds me of the uprisings happen in Eypgt, Libya, Yemen and their other Middle-Eastern counterparts. People who are oppressed for generations see no hope, change and a better future. They are desperate and desperate people will rebel, take to the streets to protest etc once it has reached the tipping point because there isn't much for them to lose anyway. And I guess the most important message that is sent out - never underestimate the power of people.

"Before I go down to face this new life, though, I take some time making myself acknowledge what it will mean. Less than a day ago, I was prepared to head into the wilderness with my loved ones in midwinter, with the very real possibility of the Capitol pursuing us. A precarious venture at best. But now I am committing to something even more risky. Fighting the Capitol assures their swift retaliation. I must accept that at any moment I can be arrested. There will be a knock on the door, like the one last night, a band of Peacekeepers to haul me away. There might be torture. Mutilation. A bullet through my skull in the town square, if I'm fortunate enough to go that quickly. The Capitol has no end of creative ways to kill people. I imagine these things and I'm terrified, but let's face it: They've been lurking in the back of my brain, anyway. I've been a tribute in the Games. Been threatened by the president. Taken a lash across my face. I'm already a target.

Now comes the harder part. I have to face the fact that my family and friends might share this fate. Prim. I need only to think of Prim and all my resolve disintegrates. It's my job to protect her. I pull the blanket up over my head, and my breathing is so rapid I use up all the oxygen and begin to choke for air. I can't let the Capitol hurt Prim.

And then it hits me. They already have. They have killed her father in those wretched mines. They have sat by as she almost starved to death. They have chosen her as a tribute, then made her watch her sister fight to the death in the Games. She has been hurt far worse than I had at the age of twelve. And even that pales in comparison with Rue's life."

Moving to the second half of the story. It is about the game - Quarter Quell such as strategies on tributes Katniss and Peeta should team up with as ally because they are no longer competing with trembling children. Instead, they will be facing competitors who have known each other for years. Katniss and Peeta are actually at a distinct disadvantage as they are the youngest and the most recent winners. And this is the part of the story which I was most fascinated about - Peeta and Katniss learning how their mentor, Haymitch won the last Quarter Quell; Katniss making a pact with the tributes she least expected herself to; the clock theory where each hour begins a new hour, a new Gamemaker weapon and ends with the previous, i.e. blood rain, poisonous fog, monkeys' attack, jabberjay etc. In fact, it took me only a few hours to finish reading the second half as contrast to days spent just to push myself to keep reading the first half of the story. And the story ends with Katniss being saved after the force field is blown and she is later disclosed that District 13 does exist; the wires and force field that Beetee working on are among the weapons to break the remaining players out of the arena with the coorperation with the undercover team; Katniss and Peeta are meant to be a piece in the game, to be used with consent and knowledge etc. Lastly, Katniss also discovers that Peeta is captured by the Capitol, District 12 is gone but luckily her sister and mother are saved.

“We had to save you because you're the mockingjay, Katniss,” says Plutarch. “While you live, the revolution lives.”

The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay.

The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of the rebellion.

I think I will still proceed with the third book of the trilogy - Mockingjay after this even though online reviews say it is the weakest of all.