Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta return to their district, hoping for a peaceful future. But their victory has caused rebellion to break out ... and the Capitol has decided that someone must pay. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the Capitol's Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless they can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. Then comes the cruellest twist: the contestants for the next Hunger Games are announced, and Katniss and Peeta are forced into the arena once more.

I ended up travelling to the station WHSmiths as I couldn't wait to start this book!

Where to start!? I'm going to trial a different review style as it was hard to piece together all of my thoughts!

What I loved-

• Pace- the speed of the book paralleled how fast Katniss felt everything was moving. It went Victory Tour- Quarter Quell selection- Preparation- Hunger Games  So much was covered in a relatively short book especially when the whole of the first book was essentially The Hunger Games and Preparation.
• The Districts- The Victory Tour gave a really good visual overview of the districts. District 12 also played a larger physical part in book so Peeta's and Katniss' families etc could be explored.
• Politics- the propaganda of the victory tour, the separation of districts, the way the Capitol is portrayed. The kind of things Katniss as a District 12 girl would never have been aware of! The government which set up the Hunger Games was obviously very clever to have created a way to make the districts feel such rivalry based on an annual cruel event opposed to actual differences.
• The Quarter Quell- a cruel but clever twist. As the latest victors Katniss and Peeta had the advantage of only knowing each other- the other victors were friends, siblings and some of them had mentored others which made it so much more horrible! It also allowed a larger range of ages to compete. 
• Victors-The range of victors from the District One careers to Maggs who took the place of poor Annie in District Four to the 'Morphlings' from District Six. I loved seeing the personalities of such differnt victors espeically their handling of the interviews, training and inital unity.
• Game Design- it was so complex and clever! I would never have figured out how it worked- Wiress was especially perceptive.
• Finnick Odair- he really grew on me. He started off as arrogant and quickly became witty and selfless. I loved how Katniss clearly didn't trust him but he grew on her too!
• Peeta and Katniss- I loved how their relationship developed over the book with Katniss still oblivious! It was sweet how they took comfort from each other. I really admired Peeta's dedication to Katniss because she often disregarded him and his feelings but he remains committed to keeping her alive- he once again was amazing at the interview!

What I didn't like as much-

• President Snow- what a sinister man! I was genuinely scared of him- I kept expecting him to pop up on their train just to torment Katniss. He also set Katniss an impossible task, there was no way her relationship with Peeta could have stopped anything! I couldn't believe how harshly he cracked down on District 12! Without spoiling too much he made it clear to Katniss just how much he knew about her and how far he was willing to go to punish her. Creepy!
• Johanna- she was very abrasive and over the top. Who strips down in a lift with two random people! Strange.
• Gale- I felt he was purposely being provactive with Katniss! If he had feelings he had time to act before.. I think I just love Peeta too much to be a fan of Gale!
• The ending- Purely because it was such a great cliffhanger! So glad I was able to get my hands on Mockingjay the next day- couldn't have waited much longer!

I really enjoyed Catching Fire, It was the perfect midway book keeping the action moving, filled with surprises and leaving as many questions as it resolved! I would have given it 5 but it wasn't as amazing as The Hunger Games!

Let me know your thoughts on Catching Fire!

Also if you like this review style :)

Much Love

Lettie

xxx