About this title: Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 400 p. Hunger Games, 2. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781410420442ISBN:1410420442
Description: New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. Literacy Bridge Young Adult, 2. Intended for a juvenile audience. Intended for a young adult/teenage audience. read more
Edition: First Edition; First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: Fine in Fine dust jacket. 0439023491. SIGNED on the half-title page. A pristine copy of the second book in the remarkable "The Hunger Games" series. read more
Binding: Preloaded Digital Audio Player
Publisher: Playaway
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781615745722ISBN:1615745726
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2009-09-01
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Signed first edition/first printing of the Second Book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Collins deepens and broadens the characters and world introduced in The Hunger Games. Pristine copy is signed directly to the half title page. Named one of the top 30 children's books of 2009 by Publisher's Weekly. All of our first editions are first printings. Dustwrappers are protected with clear archival wraps. We ship via UPS whenever possible-please select 'expedited' shipping. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press, NY
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Signed by author. 2 volume set. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 391 p. Hunger Games, 2. Audience: Children/juvenile; Young adult. First edition, FIRST PRINTING, SIGNED by SUZANNE COLLINS directly on the half-title page (signature only, not inscribed to anyone); hardcover with dustjacket; unread in AS NEW condition (no marks, not book-club ed., not price-clipped, etc); comes with a GLOSSY PHOTO of the author at the signing event! read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780545101431ISBN:0545101433
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2009-09-01
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Signed & stamped first edition/first printing of the Second Book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Collins deepens and broadens the characters and world introduced in The Hunger Games. Pristine copy is signed and stamped with the author's custom-designed stamp of a feather (pen or arrow fledge? ) directly to the title page. Named one of the top 30 children's books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly. All of our first editions are first printings. Dustwrappers are protected with clear ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Scholastic
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781407109367ISBN:1407109367
Description: New. After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen returns to her district, hoping for a peaceful future. But Katniss starts to hear rumours of a deadly rebellion against the Capitol. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the districts on the... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: New in new dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 391 p. Hunger Games, 2. Audience: Children/juvenile; Young adult. brand new read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC BK SERVICES
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780439023498ISBN:0439023491
Description: New. Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with Peeta Mellark. But it had been a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss... read more
Description: New. 0439023491 *NEW BOOK! * RETURNS ARE NO PROBLEM! We LOVE happy customers. All our orders sent with tracking information. ALIBRIS. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using DHL or Royal Mail international mail WITH TRACKING NUMBER. D elivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Description: New. Please note that deliveries to addresses in the UK and Europe will be in 4-14 business days. Other countries should refer to Alibris standard times. ISBN10: 1407109367. read more
"***************************here there be spoilers****************************
This second book in The Hunger Games didn't disappoint. Katniss realizes, on a somewhat smaller scale, that she's the face of a rebellion starting to take place throughout the districts. President Snow, in an attempt to quell the rebellion before it can spread to all the districts, uses the Quarter Quell, an event that takes place every 25 years, to kill the poster child of the rebellion by placing Katniss and Peeta in the games yet again, this time against the victors from previous years.
**************************here be the end of them***************************
Hopefully that paragraph isn't too spoilerific for you. If so, sorry. It's my review, and I did mention that there were slight spoilers, so you had it coming.
The inherent weakness in a second book comes, I feel, from expectations ingrained in us from birth as readers. We want a happy ending, and a second book simply cannot deliver that. So, I fully expect there to be much gnashing of teeth and bemoaning the fact that we'll have to wait another year, perhaps more, to see the grand finale of what happens to our heroes. That's to be expected, and I'll try not to let that cloud my judgement in reviewing the book.
Something that was somewhat unexpected was the seeming drop in intelligence of our hero, Katniss. I expected her to be a little more on the ball, considering what she'd been through in the last book. I was left wanting somewhat in that regard. Don't read too much into this, she's still a great character. I was just looking for her to brighten up a bit, and I suppose she did, just not as much as I wanted.
Another minor beef I had with this book was the entirely-too-convenient plot twists. It's almost like Collins couldn't think of anything more dramatic than the original Hunger Games as a story, and so she just moved the characters back into that environment. I'm not complaining too much, since it's always good to see Katniss at her best, killing and surviving, but I was hoping for a little more character growth. This section of the overarching plot almost seemed more like a middle grade book rather than a young adult, in that Katniss spent entirely too much time reacting to things, and not enough time acting. All the clever defiances of the capitol were set up for her, and the big reveal of what's really going on at the end (a staple of almost any second book) was completely given to her, rather than puzzled out. She did make a couple of discoveries, so I guess I might just be grasping at straws here....no, I'm not. This was a weakness in the book, and that's that. For a character as strong as Katniss is, she was weaker in the thinking department in this second book.
On the plus side of things, I felt that the writing was top notch, again. The love scenes and the romance of Katniss and Gale, and Katniss and Peeta was well done, and thankfully much briefer than I expected given the first act of the book and what Katniss and Peeta were trying to accomplish. Also, the contrived plot that I mentioned above could be forgiven for being thought up by the antagonist rather than the author trying to write her way back into her comfort zone.
Despite my complaints above, I give this book a 8.5/10. It's a must read for fans of the series, and fans of post-apocalyptic sci-fi in general, especially if they happen to be between the ages of 14 and 18. My hats off to Collins, for delivering an excellent second book. I'm sure that the second book is the hardest to write, and although she didn't break any ground here as far as how to write it, it was still well done. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to surfing the web, looking for a convenient way to get an ARC of the third book and avoid the pain of waiting a whole year."
"Wow, this book ends on such a cliff hanger! I can't believe it's going to be another whole year until I can read number three! *Groans in agony* As soon as I had sped my way through it, I actually read most of it over again. I almost never pick up a book I've just read and re-read it that quickly! I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything the first time around because it had so much emotional subtlety.
That aside, this book was so frustrating but so good! I find myself loving the characters even more as this trilogy goes on, especially Peeta, and it's difficult to watch Katniss struggle with her feelings toward him. I can hardly blame her for it, though. On the one hand she has Gale, the friend she grew up with and trusts her innermost self to, and on the other she has Peeta. He's the one she was thrust together with in one life-changing moment; the one she had to learn to trust; the one who she's just endured a horrifying ordeal with and fought to keep alive. I'd be confused, too. But I believe that Katniss is truly in love with Peeta. I was reading very carefully to catch all the little clues she doesn't realize she's giving, and it seems to me that she trusts Peeta the most now. She can be herself with him. She lets him comfort her when she has nightmares (some of the most tender stuff I've read for a while). She freaks out when she thinks he's dead. At times, you are just as confused about her feelings as she is, though.
I was talking with a friend today about this, and we decided that Katniss has had to use her brain to be practical all her life, so she doesn't know how to switch it to any other setting. I hope that Katniss can someday feel safe enough to finally leave survival mode. And I hope that she can find it in her heart to realize how perfect Peeta is for her. She has a deep bond with Gale from spending so much time with him in the past, and now she's experienced the horrors of the Hunger Games with Peeta. It's possible for her to have a relationship with either of them, but neither would be fulfilling at this point in Katniss' life, not until she's grown up a bit more. For now, Peeta just has to keep being his selfless, good self. I hope things turn out well!! Oh, Peeta. What will happen to you now?
It's always hard to read the middle book of a trilogy. It's not an introduction, nor is it an end. You are already emotionally invested in the characters, but you don't get to see closure yet. But definitely a very good read. I hope I can last until the next one."
"Both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire are so well written. It didn't feel like I was reading a young adult novel. It felt like I was in Panem. I get very invested while I'm reading these books. I'm practically in love with Peeta.
It's more of a cliff hanger than I'm comfortable with, but it sort of has to be. I can't wait for the last book to come out."
"It is a very rare novel that can make me put it down so I can walk around in order to dispel my excited, nervous-laughter amazement. Collins has the ability to draw me in to her story, making me feel so invested in Katniss and the others that I can hardly stand it. Sequels can be (and often are) disappointing--especially in this era of grind-it-out series--but this was far from that. Collins continued the narrative beautifully--she doesn't stunt the characters or the action by trying too hard or playing safe. She lets the characters continue to tell their own story in their own words, which is fabulous.
I never knew what was coming next, which doesn't happen often for me. She could have taken the story in many familiar, easy directions (because the overarching thrust of revolution isn't hard to figure), yet she goes for the hard sell every time, the unexpected plot twist. This part started to remind me of Scott Westerfelds' Uglies series, yet not so much that I felt I was re-reading it in someone else's words.
Overall: an excellent read, well worth the price in hardback, and I will be watching and waiting for the third installment."
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