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Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games Book 2)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: New York: Scholastic, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 391
Total Page Count: 134,680
Text Number: 394
Read Because: continuing the series (after watching The Hunger Games film), borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Even after her unlikely victory in the Hunger Games, Katniss is not safe: there are rumors of an uprising, and as she makes her Victory Tour through the Districts she must try to quell a rebellion she accidentally started and may not want to stop. Collins writes without skill: Katniss's narration is bland and voiceless, despite the intensity of her personality and emotions. The plot reiterates, in both pacing and content, The Hunger Games—a lazy reliance on convention that fails to further Katniss's changing world. And, again, there are dei ex machina; while not out of place in the setting, these create inconsistent characterization but more often make Katniss seem two steps behind everyone, including the reader, in predicting the next twist.
In the end, none of this detracts from the book. It wants to be more—better written, bolder, more vivid—but remains utterly absorbing. Despite its simplicity and contrivances, difficulty gives it undeniable momentum: Katniss's violent emotions, the danger of her situation, the consequences of the building rebellion. Flawed people fighting an uncertain, high-stakes battle has just enough weight to be rewarding as well as addicting. In other words, this is what one would expect successful YA literature to be: artless but effective. I'll finish up the trilogy, and recommend it and this installment moderately.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: New York: Scholastic, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 391
Total Page Count: 134,680
Text Number: 394
Read Because: continuing the series (after watching The Hunger Games film), borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Even after her unlikely victory in the Hunger Games, Katniss is not safe: there are rumors of an uprising, and as she makes her Victory Tour through the Districts she must try to quell a rebellion she accidentally started and may not want to stop. Collins writes without skill: Katniss's narration is bland and voiceless, despite the intensity of her personality and emotions. The plot reiterates, in both pacing and content, The Hunger Games—a lazy reliance on convention that fails to further Katniss's changing world. And, again, there are dei ex machina; while not out of place in the setting, these create inconsistent characterization but more often make Katniss seem two steps behind everyone, including the reader, in predicting the next twist.
In the end, none of this detracts from the book. It wants to be more—better written, bolder, more vivid—but remains utterly absorbing. Despite its simplicity and contrivances, difficulty gives it undeniable momentum: Katniss's violent emotions, the danger of her situation, the consequences of the building rebellion. Flawed people fighting an uncertain, high-stakes battle has just enough weight to be rewarding as well as addicting. In other words, this is what one would expect successful YA literature to be: artless but effective. I'll finish up the trilogy, and recommend it and this installment moderately.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.