Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
DESCRIPTION:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge
REVIEW:
To be honest, I didn't give any interest in reading this book, at first. Looking back to the previous book, The Hunger Games, I wondered what would happen to katniss and Peeta now that the've survived the game. I was very excited at the second intallment, thinking this could be a lot better. But one of the disadvantages of reading first the book reviews--in goodreads/shelfari--is your often being spoiled without warnings.
See? I'm spoiled of the story. I knew that Katniss and Peeta were going to the arena again--not to become mentors like I/they expected, but to become players of the game again. AGAIN! Isn't that a sucking revelation? Does Collins know how boring it was for me to read the The Hunger Games Part 2(arena part)??? That scene really bored me to death that I even wished her death. Run, escape, hide, run, escape, hide--was all she did, until she met Rue. Thanks God, by that time I became alert and excited. And now: they're going back to the arena again? Would it mean, going back to the boringness again? I better sleep.
I read other books instead--though I already had the copy of this at that time. When my cousin bought the copy of Mockingjay and told me how great the story and how much better the Catching Fire than the Hunger Games was. Should I still wait for her to reveal anything on me? Of course not! I didn't want to be spoiled again. So I started turning the pages of this book again.
As I started reading this book again, i got every excited. Collins knows how to get the attention of a reader and how to hold his/her excitement without any cue of declining. I didn't put down the book. I kept reading and anticipating reading the part in the arena. And by that time I'd be in that scene, I would throw this away from my sight. But WAIT!! Did I give this a five-star rating? You're blind if you say i didn't. Yes I did--which means: I didn't throw this away.
The Quarter Quell failed me. Failed my first impression. Because when I was hooked into it, I kept reading without even thinking that "oh! It's lunchtime!"... Who would think that the arena was designed based on a clock? Who could have thought that the bread they were eating means something? Who would think that the reason why they were being protected by other tributes, not because they thought she was pregnant, but because they kept saving them for they signified something? Who could have guessed that Plutarch was their ally? And who could think that Katniss symbolizes a mockingjay?
I did!
Usual way of reading books is having some opinions and guesses of what would happen next, right? Since i was spoiled already, i didn't bother conjuring any theories that would ruin my taste on this book. So, I forced myself to be a narrow-minded reader. Goodness! It worked! When Katniss became innocent, I did , too. And guess what? I was shocked when the revelation came that she was the mockingjay of the rebels.
Now, what happenend to district 12?
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