Young Adult Book Reviews

Genre:  Fantasy

# of Pages:  391

RAC Book:  Yes

In this sequel to The Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta have returned home to district 12 but life is not as easy or calm as Katniss hoped it would be if she survived the games.  Their previous fears of starving or failing to feed their families have been relieved as they now have plenty of food and money due to their winnings, but there is an uneasiness as Katniss realizes she may be in trouble with the Capitol for breaking the rules and managing to have two survivors of the vicious games.  Her fears are turned into reality when she receives a surprise visit from the president of the Capitol.  He warns her that if her and Peeta do not convince everyone that they are in fact in love, then the lives of their family and friends may be in danger.  Katniss was surprised to learn that her act of defiance that allowed her and Peeta to survive the games was seen as a first step of revolt to some of the districts.  Since then they have followed suit and established uprisings that the Capitol does not approve of.   As Katniss tries to squelch the uprisings by acting more in love with Peeta than she could imagine, she can’t help but wonder what will happen if she fails and the Capitol blames her for the beginnings of a revolution?  What’s worse, she starts to wonder if she really wants to squelch the uprisings at all or if she would be willing to give her life in order to make life better for those who come after her.

This sequel delivers all the action, surprise, suspense, and passion as the first one.  The year following Katniss’s triumph in the games is full of heartache and worry as she wonders who is watching her and what they will do to her family if she angers them.  Her life is completely changed, but not necessarily in a better way.  As she tries to help those around her she is in no way prepared for the role that will be thrust upon her in the next hunger games.  Anyone who liked the first installment of this series will devour this one and will have a difficult time waiting for the release of the next one.