CATCHING FIRE
Book Two in The Hunger Games Trilogy
Author: Suzanne Collins
Source: Purchased

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 391 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0439023491
ISBN-13: 978-0439023498

SUMMARY:

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull’s-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol. Catching Fire maintains the adrenaline rush of Suzanne Collins’s series launch.

MY THOUGHTS:

Sometimes when I find a series that I am enjoying so immensely, the follow up books to the first one don’t seem to measure up with the wow factor.  When I finished The hunger Games, the first book in the series, the games were over and I didn’t know what the author was going to be able to do to keep the momentum going for the next book.  All I can say is WOW!  She brought back the suspense, intrigue, drama and romance so hard that I didn’t think it were even possible.


When Peeta and Katniss arrive back to District 12 after winning the Hunger Games, they didn’t know what to expect.  They thought they were done being included in the Capitol’s court of jesters called The Hunger Games.  They knew there would be some backlash after what they did in the arena, but they never expected what the officials end up doing to them in Catching Fire.  


I literally was on the edge of my seat, hands gripping the pages, the whole time reading this book.  I will even go as far to say that this book surpasses the first book in so many ways!  I enjoyed it even more than the first book and I didn’t think that was even possible.  When I read about Peeta I think of bread and wedding cakes with love.  When I think of Katniss I imagine birds in flight struggling to survive.  With Gale, I imagine the rock in the family with emotions bottled up.  With Haymitch, I was still unsure of his motives, so he had me going in all sorts of directions! Then enter Finnick with his good looks, humor and sugar cubes!  I will never look at a sugar cube the same way again!


I finished this book within a matter of hours and yes, my house and family suffered for it.  They fended for themselves in the kitchen, clothes were having to be dug out of bottom of drawers since laundry ceased to be cleaned, and they even had to break down and do the dishes themselves just so I could keep reading this outstanding book. If you haven’t started this series yet, you are truly missing out on amazing writing and an emotional roller coaster!  Go out, pick them up, and read them!  


MY RATING:

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS

BLESSED
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Source: Fellow Blogger

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Candlewick (January 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0763643262
ISBN-13: 978-0763643263

SUMMARY:

With a wink and a nod to Bram Stoker, New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites the casts of Tantalize and Eternal in a delicious dark fantasy her fans will devour.
Quincie P. Morris, teen restaurateuse and neophyte vampire, is in the fight of her life — or undeath. Even as she adjusts to her new appetites, she must clear her best friend and true love, the hybrid werewolf Kieren, of murder charges; thwart the apocalyptic ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the seductive vampire-chef who “blessed” her; and keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running. She hires a more homespun chef and adds the preternaturally beautiful Zachary to her wait staff. But with hundreds of new vampires on the rise and Bradley off assuming the powers of Dracula Prime, Zachary soon reveals his true nature — and a flaming sword — and they hit the road to staunch the bloodshed before it’s too late. Even if they save the world, will there be time left to salvage Quincie’s soul? 

MY THOUGHTS:

With Blessed being the third and final book in a trilogy, I found it to be a great conclusion to the series.  It weaved the first and second book together to create a solid and intriguing finale.  This first two books in the series were okay, and I will say that this book again, was just okay.  I liked the series, but it wasn’t one that blew me away.

The writing has improved a bit, but the story in itself still has some choppy scenes and dialogue.  The flow felt interrupted at times as if the story was stalled and couldn’t figure out how to continue its path.  I was invested in the story only because I had read the first two in the series and needed to finish the series just on that alone.
If this is a series you have been following and have enjoyed, then you will enjoy the final conclusion in this teen paranormal world that the author has created.  If you haven’t read the first two books, then read the first and you should get a feel on how the series will be. 

MY RATING: