Catching Fire
Ratings2,510
Average rating4.1
Young adult romance with a self loathing, self righteous heroine. “Everything wrong with the world is my fault, and I'm the only one who can save it. Yet, I'm torn between the love of two boys...”.
Read 3:37/11:03 33%
This was just stupid.
Unnecessary drama, and the last “bomb”... it wasn't even a bomb! And he didn't answer her question!
And the triangle drama... aaaargh... just want to... nah.
But, ok, I suppose I'll read the third book, too, one day. Perhaps.
I am disappointed. I did expect more. :-(
I liked the second book better than the first. There was still action, but less of the kid gladiator stuff. Life does get darker in this installment, but there is a spark of hope.
What I like:
- The characters are good. They are unique and grow a bit. Like Katniss, I don't want to get to know anyone who has to be killed in the games. And I don't want to like them because I want the characters I like to live.
- This series has a president rather than a king, but again I like stories that illustrate what true kingship, or leadership, looks like.
- The story. I find myself wanting to come back to find out what happens. I found some of the plot a bit easy my to figure out, but definitely not the whole. I like stories that pit fear, anger, and hatred against the power of love and respect. That's a simplistic way of putting it, but I do believe that love and respect are characteristics of God, and two of the most powerful elements in the universe.
What I didn't like:
- Some of the story was a little too easy to figure out.
- At times I find Katniss' thoughts tiresome in how much time she spends questioning the motives of other characters and what her feelings are. Some of that is normal teenager thinking. Having it builds Katniss' character, for sure. I just find myself tuning our during her musings sometimes.
Overall, a good story with action and political intrigue along the scale of Star Wars, not House of Cards.
The book is so thrilling that I might have jumped on my feet few times while reading it.
It has an excellent ending and in a way, I was satisfied with it. But definitely it made me want to start reading The Mockingjay.
Totally love Katniss, her actions and the way of thinking is appreciable.
I'd recommend this to anyone who has read the first book.
I just finished rereading this for I think the fourth or fifth time... However, it's probably been four or five years since I've reread any of the books in this series.
Reading this now as an adult, I find myself loving it even more than I remember! I always considered this my favourite of the series and now I remember why!
What a cliffhanger! Can't wait to read the final chapter of this trilogy.
I really really loved the gale twist at the end. I saw something bad coming but not that. Wow. Not that.
Le premier tome m'avait paru assez simplet et dévoilant très peu de la politique ou du sadisme des jeux. Ce tome ci rattrape énormément, creusant en profondeur cette société et ses défaillances, son fonctionnement, son sadisme, ses personnages, une vraiment bonne surprise (même s'il a fallu attendre le tome 2 pour que cette saga devienne vraiment intéressante). Je suis impatient de lire le tome 3.
The first some was a little bit basic and showed very little of the politic nor the sadism of the Games. This one catch up a lot, digging deep into the way this society works and its problems, its sadism, but also the characters, truly a good surprise (even if the saga had to reach a second volume to be interesting). Looking forward to read the third and last book.
Catching Fire is pretty much a mixed bag for me. In some ways I liked it better than The Hunger Games but in others it didn't measure up. I appreciated that the characters were better drawn, had more depth. And not just those we've known for awhile (Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, etc), but also the previous victors, Gale's family, etc. I could see where the emotional stakes were high. And the last 10 pages were great action-wise HA. I knew 13 still existed. Now if I could just figure out where 13 is supposedly located, because the details we know DO NOT work together
The thing is, there was this over all been there, done that, bought the t-shirt feeling that hung over three quarters of the book. Basically from the party at the end of the victory tour on. Oh look. Another round of the games.Cinna creating another set of brilliant costumes. The prep team fawning all over Katniss. Katniss whining. Peeta being the gallant, stage present hero (so, so, so annoyed with the whole baby thing). Haymitch snarking. Ok, this wasn't a bad thing - I like Haymitch's drunken snark but anyway.... Katniss sniffling. And sniffling some more. Seriously at one point I wanted someone to kill Peeta just so she'd find some tree to go sob in and we could get a new narrator. And I realize that Katniss is a somewhat “innocent” 17 year old but boy is she dense. I knew the moment Plutarch thumbed the watch face showing the mockingjay that he was working against the Capitol.
So while I liked parts of this installment, the sum of the whole didn't quite measure up.
This didn't really have the dip that a middle book of a trilogy often has. I suppose the pace of the story is so quick that there isn't really time for it.
Again, Katniss' slowness on the uptake was frustrating, though I suppose it adds to the complexity of the plot (and let's face it, there isn't much) and there is something realistic about seeing things from the viewpoint of a character who is blundering along without knowing everything that is going on.
I felt like I was reading a The Hunger Games again with just slightly different characters and slightly different circumstances but the same premise.. until the very last chapter anyway. I was not extremely amused. I was also able to guess everything that happened except for the main twist at the end. Again, not super amused. Sure, the Games were designed differently in this story, very cleverly actually, but it wasn't enough to make it feel like a different story.
My other issue, which may have been present in the first book, but didn't get annoying until this one: Katniss as the narrator asks questions often that the reader is already or should be already asking themselves... it's a little too leading and gets under my skin.
Katniss's character is also very much less badass in this book. She becomes whiny, more self absorbed, and overly wishy washy. I just didn't like her nearly as much as in the first book where she is headstrong and angry.
However, there is a lot of character development for Peeta in this book. He steps up and shows his leadership through power with words (or it's hinted at), but he's still overall the sad boy who loves a girl that will never love him the way he wants her too. The only character I really did like in this book was Haymitch; he proved to be a sneaky, clever victor who's been more involved than we thought the whole time (and leads to the twist at the end).
The twist at the end almost saved my opinion of the book and made me give it a higher rating... but again ALMOST. It was good. I didn't see it coming. And I think it will lead to the third book being more interesting. But I mean.. we all know what's going to happen. Also, with the twist Katniss and Peeta somehow become side characters and you realize that they have been the entire story.
Overall, this book disappointed me. I thought it was good, but I guess I just didn't get all the hype. I will read the third to finish out the series (and find out about DISTRICT 13!!!), and hopefully it will leave a better taste in my mouth.
a great read but have number 3 redy to read at once. ends whit a big cliffhanger
All in all a bit weaker than the first. I liked the first half the most. All the consequences they have to face after what they did, and the first signs of the uprisings were good written. Although the games were much more interesting setting wise this time, I felt a bit bored during them. The characters evolved pretty good, and the ending was good enough for me to want to know how this all ends.
Apparently I read this almost exactly ten years ago! And guess what, it still slaps. Maybe the pacing is a little weird at times, and the “which boy do I like more” is a little overdone (especially when Johanna Mason is RIGHT THERE, throwing axes and being mean and cool and generally winning over my heart) but dang, it is still so good. 4 wedding dresses going up in flames out of 5.
Critiques:
- For the most part the story turns were predictable, overly foreshadowed.
- At the beginning of the book there was too much focus on the drama of the love-triangle.
- It was a bit cheap just having another Games be the main event.
Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf
Antes de tudo: Esse livro é o segundo da trilogia “Jogos Vorazes”, então para quem não leu o primeiro recomendo que não leia esse post, pois terá spoilers.
“Tique-taque”
Terminamos o primeiro livro “Jogos Vorazes” sabendo que Peeta e Katniss escaparam dos Jogos com uma estratégia que pode acarretar em sérias consequências. Nem todos se convenceram com o amor dos dois, e o modo como se salvaram foi interpretado como uma rebeldia. E todos sabemos o que a rebeldia anterior causou aos distritos.
Meses depois, Peeta e Katniss estão morando na Aldeia dos Vitoriosos e precisam voltar à Capital para a Turnê da Vitória, um evento em que o vitorioso, nesse caso os dois, viajam para cada distrito e para a Capital para uma “comemoração” e rememorar a morte dos tributos. Uma viagem cansativa e dolorosa para todos. Katniss então é informada que ela precisa ajudar a apagar a fagulha que a ação dela causou no final dos jogos, evitando uma revolução e a morte de seus entes queridos.
Entretanto, Katniss e Peeta estão afastados desde que ele descobriu que ela não o amava e estava usando o amor como uma estratégia traçada junto com seu mentor para sobreviver, o que torna sua missão de parecer loucamente apaixonada muito mais difícil. Durante a Turnê, uma pequena revolta acontece no distrito 11, o que leva a um aumento de segurança no distrito 12 e em todos os outros.
Nesse ano, acontece o Massacre Quaternário dos 75 anos, uma versão especial dos Jogos Vorazes que acontece a cada 25 anos com condições especiais. No primeiro, os moradores de cada distrito tiveram que votar nas crianças que seriam sacrificadas, no segundo, o número de tributos dobrou. E fica pairando o medo de qual será a surpresa que o terceiro trará.
O livro traz um clima mais sombrio do que o primeiro, pois há o medo de castigo para os familiares e amigos, o desafio de tentar agradar a Capital para salvar inclusive a própria vida, e todo o questionamento da validade de uma revolta. Será que valeria a pena?
Ele nos traz mais perto para a face mais cruel da Capital, a falta de humanidade e a covardia em muitos aspectos, e traz grandes reviravoltas na história, algumas que não ficaram óbvias na história. Mostra quanto o psicológico dos personagens foi afetado pelos jogos, e o quanto eles mudaram por causa disso. Katniss se mostra mais amadurecida, enfrentando a situação com a confusão e a desconfiança que marcam a personagem. É um livro de muitas emoções e que devorei de um dia para outro.
Para quem gostou do primeiro, é um prato cheio, e para quem sentiu falta de ação e suspense, um banquete.
Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2013/02/em-chamas.html
Hunger Games - La ragazza di fuoco è il secondo romanzo della trilogia degli Hunger Games, in cui si prosegue il racconto di Katniss Everdeen e della futuristica nazione di Panem. E' un romanzo del 2009 scritto da Suzanne Collins, che ha raggiunto picchi di vendite impressionanti e ha praticamente spopolato tra i giovani lettori. La ragazza di fuoco ha ricevuto parecchi pareri positivi ed elogi riguardanti lo stile, il finale e il sofisticarsi sempre più della protagonista.
Il primo libro mi era piaciuto molto, davvero ben congegnato, ben scritto e con un'ambientazione molto accattivante, anche se l'dea di rinchiudere delle persone in un luogo chiuso a combattere finché non ne rimane solo uno, non sia proprio un'idea di un'originalità estrema; il problema dei libri di mezzo nelle trilogie è che sono sempre i più deboli: da una parte devono un po' tirare le fila del primo, riassumerne i concetti di base e dall'altra devono essere un traghetto che porta il lettore alla fine della storia nella sua interezza nel libro conclusivo.
La prima parte di questo volume fa appunto questo: il punto della situazione per coloro che si fossero accorti dell'esistenza di questa trilogia solo in questo momento e parte con brevi riassunti della puntata precedente, dei personaggi e del contesto, devo dire abbastanza noioso, ma si passa velocemente oltre. Poi arriva la parte più debole del libro secondo me, anche se tutto rimane scritto bene, veloce, di grande impatto, sembra di leggere una copia del primo libro, la replica degli Hunger Games. Dal momento in cui si decide che Katniss e Peeta dovranno fare ritorno nell'arena, c'è puzza di già letto, lontano un miglio. Non che sia un brutto libro, e se il primo vi è piaciuto sicuramente sarà così anche per questo. Però non c'è più il pathos che si è creato nella prima parte della storia.
I temi che vengono affrontati in questo secondo libro includono la sopravvivenza, il controllo governativo, la ribellione, l'obbedienza, ma anche il sacrificio e l'amore.
Insomma in questa parte centrale della storia, non si esce dalla regola dei libri di mezzo delle trilogie, è l'anello di congiunzione, probabilmente quello più debole che allaccia i due migliori. Lettura ovviamente improcrastinabile per chi vuole leggere tutta la trilogia, che non annoia mai ma anche che non stupisce mai, se non per l'evoluzione della personalità della protagonista.
Lettura obbligata.