Catching Fire

Reader: David L
Age: 16
Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pub Date: 09/01/2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: Yes
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Catching Fire is an intense and intellectual fast-paced novel, one of the best I've read. In fact, I don't think you should even consider not reading it.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The supremely creative plot combined with all of the different clever little plot twists.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I really wish the character of Peeta would be fleshed out a little more. I like what I know about him, but that is sadly very little. He seems to be simply another dead weight. People say good things about him, but we rarely see him living up to them.
Comments: The writing itself isn't perfect, but the book didn't fail to draw me in. I couldn't help but be annoyed by the ending. It was too quick of an explanation, and for some reason I felt as if the ending had shifted to a much more detached writing style, far less entrancing than the rest of the book. There were a few times when I wondered if I had missed something, some fight or talk, or skipped a few pages, but I realized that they were simple inconsistencies, probably due to editing.
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents: Yes, it certainly did. This book's cover was subtle, enticing, and wonderfully simple.
Age Range: 14-15, 16-17, 18 up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal