Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Catching Fire
Series: Hunger Games, book 2
Author: Suzanne Collins
Narrator: Carolyn McCormick
Publisher: Scholastic Audiobooks
Duration: 11 hours, 41 minutes
Copyright: 2009
Genres: science fiction, dystopia, post apocolypse
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

THE GIST: Seventy-five years ago, the great and majestic city of Panam created the Hunger Games. Once a year, a boy and a girl would be randomly selected from each of the twelve outlying districts of the Capital City, and forced to participate in the games, a brutal battle to the death, in which there could be only one victor. The Hunger Games were created to serve two purposes: to entertain the lazy and bored citizens of the Capital, and to remind the outer districts who was in charge.
Last year, when Katniss Everdeen of District 12 stepped forward to take her younger sister’s place, she considered it her own death warrant. That was okay with Katniss, though. She would rather face certain death in the Games, than watch her little sister go through it. Katniss and her District 12 counterpart, Pita, teamed up to help each other through the Games, knowing full well that only one of them could survive. When the pair found themselves to be the last two survivors, they were more surprised than anyone.
In defiance of the Games, Katniss and Pita made a pact; this year there would be two champions, or there would be none at all. They filled their mouths with poisonous berries, and prepared to swallow. Realizing that this was no bluff, the Game Master quickly declared that for the first ttime in history, the Hunger Games would have two champions.
Katniss had no idea what her one small act of defiance would do. The downtrodden peoples of the twelve districts found a spark of hope in her courage, and small rebellions began to break out. The rebellions spread through the districts like wildfire, and soon the Capital City had its hands full maintaining order. The President of Panam knew that the only way to squash the rebellion and restore order, would be to get rid of its symbol, Katniss Everdeen.
The following year, for the 75th annual Hunger Games, the President changes the rules. Instead of each district choosing its two tributes at random, he announces that they must choose tributes from among their former champions, knowing full well that Katniss and Pita are the only two champions district 12 has had in the last twenty-five years. The president knows that Katniss’ chances of surviving against 23 other champions are almost non-existent. What he doesn’t know, is just how organized the rebellion has become, and just how far the malcontent has penetrated into the Capital City.

MY THOUGHTS: Wow, I’m really getting into this series! “Catching Fire” is the second audiobook in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series, and I can’t wait to read the third and final audiobook, “Mockingjay.”
The more I read about Katniss Everdeen, the more she reminds me of Tally Youngblood, the heroine of Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies” series. Both girls found themselves thrust into extreme situations far beyond their control, and both rose to the challenge, becoming symbols for others to follow without even realizing it. Suzanne Collins does a great job of creating characters that we, the readers, really care about.

NARRATOR: Carolyn McCormick is a good audiobook narrator. Not great, but good. Her pacing is good, not too fast and not too slow, but I would like to hear her read with a little more feeling.

FINAL WORD: I’m glad I picked up “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire” from my library, this is the best story I’ve read in a while. The third audiobook, “Mockingjay” is out as of this writing, but my library doesn’t have a copy yet. I hope they get one soon!

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Audiobook Review)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Audiobook Review)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins(Audiobook Review)

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If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "Catching Fire" book 2 of the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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