Catching Fire

"Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!"

This is Katniss Everdeen's famous line in the 3rd installment of the Hunger Games series by Suzzane Collins, Mockingjay. Here, she is taunting the Capitol in one of her TV propaganda for District 13. Where in simple words it might just mean "we die, you die too."
I'm obviously meaning to discuss Catching Fire in this post judging from the title of it, the second book of the trilogy, and not Mockingjay. However I felt the introduction was necessary  since you won't find  the phrase 'Catching Fire' anywhere in the entire course of book 2. Which I think is pretty cool.

For a bit of a plot:
Katniss is now 17. Having won the 74th Annual Hunger Games last year with fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, they try to go back to their usual lives before the game.

The thing is, they couldn't. I suppose this is mainly what book 2 is all about. There's no going back. The person you were before you entered the Hunger Games arena, is not the same person that comes out of it.

You might have won the game, yes, but a part of you has died. No more innocence, only survival.

That's what it's like for Katniss, the nightmares explains it all. Not for Peeta, though. His character contradicts normal human instinct - to fight, to kill, to survive. He remains pure amidst a violence-filled situation. He's like the pillar of virtue in the book.

You're now a victor, you've just successfully outlived 22 other kids, congratulations to you.

However, the trauma, the impact of this brutal game in their lives surpasses the bruises and the wounds that they've collected - which can easily be erased by state-of-the-art medicines provided by the Capitol.

It's a burden that they will forever bear.

Kinda like Frodo being stabbed by one of the Nazgul, and being the ring-bearer at the same time. There is that physical and emotional wound that somehow never fully heaed.

There are perks to being a victor though: the incredible wealth, the new house at Victor's village, the status. And isn't that just the best thing about the Hunger Games series? It's so satirical.

I will spare you some of the details. I won't be discussing the Quarter Quell, the wedding proposal, the secret plot to overthrow the Capitol. If you haven't read it, Wikipedia it or better yet, start reading.

On the lighter side, new characters will be introduced in this second book. Some of which will greatly impact Katniss' life up until the 3rd installment -- Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason, and Plutarch Heavensbee, to name a few.

Now if we are to discuss the romance part of the novel, I think in this book it will be apparent to the readers who among Peeta or Gale Katniss has true feelings for.

To conclude this, I have high hopes for this book being translated to the big screen. With Sam Claffin being casted as Finnick, Jena Malone as Johanna, and Phillip Seymour-Houffman as Plutarch, I say its gonna be pretty exciting.

One my friends who's also an avid reader of the series once told me that Catching Fire is his favorite among the three. It's funny, it's light, it's sarcastic, it's exciting. Considering how dark and depressing Mockingjay is for me (in a good way though), I think his point is valid.

Definitely a must read.