Have you ever read a sequel to a book that is even better than the first book of the series? I have just read a book exactly like that called Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the second book of The Hunger Games trilogy. Even though The Hunger Games was an amazing book, Catching Fire is even more entertaining and exciting! Catching Fire is much more amazing than The Hunger Games for many reasons, but a few of them stand out.
The first reason I enjoyed Catching Fire is because it has much more action. Just like the Hunger Games, there is a fight to the death in the book. This fight has more action because it is a special fight called the quarter quell. This is the 3rd quarter quell and the special rule is that contestants must have already won another of the hunger games (a fight to the death over food and money). That means everyone who is in the competition has already won, so they already have experienced the fight and know what to do to survive.
Catching Fire is much more futuristic than The Hunger Games which is another reason I liked it better. Katniss (the main character) is kidnapped by hovercrafts! In the arena where the hunger games are located, it is like a big mechanical clock, every section unleashes some kind of obstacle to overcome. The cool thing is that there are 12 sections and each one releases its horror on the hour. While in the arena, trackers and cameras follow their every move and broadcast it to the entire country of Panem, which would be hard to do now because the contestants might see the cameramen and kill them. In the books they are invisible and programmed to follow the contestants.
The final reason I really like Catching Fire better than the first book in the series is because it has so much more suspense. It actually has examples of Katniss openly defying The Capital which does not happen at all in The Hunger Games! When I get to parts like that, I just cannot stop reading! Catching Fire ends on an extremely suspenseful moment. When you finish Catching Fire you need to have Mockingjay on hand or you will be dying to know what happens and could not possibly stand the wait!
Without a doubt, Catching Fire is a much better book than The Hunger Games, even though they are both amazing books. If you decide to read the series, have all of them on hand to enjoy and remember them for a long time to come. Check the Amazon link below to order Catching Fire and the rest of this amazing and wonderfully written series by Suzanne Collins.
Thomas Lee
Waccamaw Intermediate
