Okay guys, so the experiment is over. Sigh. I was right. The book didn’t grab me in the first twenty pages, and it quiet never grabbed me after that.
First, let me start by saying that I LOVE The Hunger Games. Catching Fire, the sequel, I only liked. I felt the writer was not given enough time to cook up a good plot. Folks, this is not easy. I cannot imagine what it must be like to write an amazing book like The Hunger Games, and then having to quickly write the sequel because fans are just demanding it (and your agent/ publisher).
The characters, of course, were rich, like always. And Collins’ does such a great job with the whole love triangle between Peeta and Gale. Nicely done. But we ended up in the arena again. Doing another “hunger games” round. Sigh.
The whole first half of the book was Collins’ trying to recap the first book. This was difficult to read because I already knew all that information. The book, for me, didn’t really start until the middle of the book, “The Quell” – and then it was quickly over.
I still think Collins’ ability to write prose and cook up characters and a make believe world is still pretty amazing – I just wish she would’ve had more time to write her sequel to The Hunger Games. Maybe she did too. Or maybe she is over it already, knowing she’s got another spectacular book waiting in the wings. No pressure, right? The life of an accomplished writer! Hey, it’s her fault! She created all those incredible characters/story, and of course….we want more!
