By Rachael Bentley

Suzanne Collins blew readers away with her first book of the Hunger Games trilogy, which made critics and myself wary that she would be able to out-do herself for the following book, Catching Fire. What we really should have been worried about was how we were going to prepare ourselves for Collins genius to blow us even further away from reality.

To my upmost relief, she stuck to the same type of writing style that she started the series with, writing from Katniss Everdeen’s perspective as she battles with the Capitol and President Snow for her freedom from persecution. After Katniss and Peeta tricked the Capitol into letting them both win the Hunger Games, the worst was far from over.

They now had to deal with the fact that their actions sparked a rebellion within the 12 districts, and President Snow holds Katniss personally responsible. These turns of events turn tragic as the Capitol fights back by making Katniss enter yet another Hunger Games, only this time a male and a female past victor would be chosen from each district to fight to the death, yet agian.

To Collins’s credit, I was not expecting such a strong second novel. In trilogies, the second books tend to be a little lack-luster, and mainly provides a bridge to the last and most exciting book. Although the intensity of Catching Fire does match that in The Hunger Games, the story does seem a bit rushed at times. This is partially just her writing style, and its something you have to adjust to, but it seemed like she was rushed into the writing process so she could get to the third novel more quickly.

But overall, I was generally very happy with this sequel and what it had to offer readers in terms of excitement and an interesting plot.