A recap of the rules of the Hunger Games: 2 tributes from each district, one boy and one girl(12 districts 24 in all) would be selected each year to participate in the games. The games are to the death, each year there will only be one victor. Previous Victors from your district act like your lifeline to the outside world, they find you sponsors are allowed to send you gifts and train you for the 3 day period before the games. When first entering the arena you must remain one minute on the dais you were raised upon so that the land mines at your feet will be disabled(obviously they were tired of "False Starts").
There is a Cornucopia made of gold sitting to one side and the "arena" for that years games in the other direction. The arena changes every year, as does the terrain, the obstacles within the arena, the outfits you are initially equipped with and items stored within the cornucopia that will help you at least initially during the first phase of the games. Normally the Cornucopia is a blood bath. Careers, tributes who come from districts who have the resources to train their children from a young age to be prepared for the games, tend to form Alliances and wipe out any of the weaker tributes who are at the mouth of the Cornucopia trying to snatch anything to help them survive and they take the choice items for themselves as they hunt down the other tributes before they pick themselves off.
The Debt that can NEVER be Repaid
In the last review I mention a history between Katniss Everdene and Peeta Mellark but I did not go into detail about it, as it will become an even bigger factor in this book I will discuss it now. Not long after the death of Katniss's father her mother, Emily though normally only referred to as Mother, sank into a deep depression she would not move, she did not seem to exist. Unfortunately that meant no one had a job to provide for her two young children Katniss and Primrose, because that was the way the Capitol gives you enough money to cover food and expenses for a few months then the mother is expected to find work. When the money had run out and Emily seemed to be useless Katniss took it upon her self to go out in the streets and try to beg for something, she would not let her precious Prim suffer. Unfortunately the people of the Seam barely have enough to feed themselves most times so charity was non existent, when the option of charity was exhausted Katniss resorted to dumpster diving hoping to find scraps to eat just so that maybe they could make it the few months to her 12th birthday when she could sign up for tessera and get the extra rations she needed to provide for her family.
Finding little or no food or scraps in most of the trash of her neighbors she made her way to the home the town Baker, the Mellark's and started searching through their houses garbage hoping for some crusts of stale or partially moldy bread anything to fill their stomachs. Unfortunately the Baker's wife comes out and shoos her away she sort of runs back and falls into the mud near where the pigs are kept. Out of nowhere she hears a crash and a shriek as if something was damaged or broken inside the baker's house, as well as some screaming. She sees the back door open and a young boy and the Baker's wife appear, Katniss believes she hears something along the lines of "You ruined it, well you might as well go feed it to the pigs because no one will buy that". As the young boy walks towards the sty he looks back sees that the coast is clear and throws one and then the other loaf of bread at Katniss's feet, the young boy is Peeta.
Upon making it home with the warm bread tucked under her skirt Katniss is now filled with hope and determination, the next day is her first under the fence to hone the hunting skills that her father had started teaching her. She forces her mother to come to the table and they eat as a family for the first time after she scrapes off the barely burnt portions of the rich and hearty bread filled with raisins and nuts. That was the day the Katniss Everdene that everyone had come to love and respect had been born, that was our introduction to the "girl who was on fire", the people in the Capitol may not know her yet but the people in Seam were glad to know her. Unfortunately of course the games are 1 winner only and the boy who made her continued life as the member of a small community and not some ward of the district and thus even worse off than before was Peeta Mellark, a boy that would have to die for her to win.
Or before the events of the 74th Hunger Games would have had to die, it seems unbeknownst to Katniss Peeta was in love with her, had been in love with her since their first day of school together. It seems his father the Baker had been in love with Katniss's mother Emily, but lost her hand to the man who could sing and silence even the MockingJay's. While the Hunger Games is supposed to be about every man for himself Peeta Mellark cared about only 2 things: Not letting the Capitol change who he was before he died and keeping Katniss Everdene alive. In his mind life would not matter without Katniss so that his life in exchange for making sure Katniss Everdene lived was a great accomplishment.
On the last day before games every tribute gives an interview, it goes Girl Boy, Girl Boy from each district in order and while everyone seemed to do well, people had peaked curiousities not only by the fiery getup Katniss had worn in the parade but also by the fact that Katniss had scored so high in her Private interview with the Games Keepers(I'll touch more on that later). And while the interview was not great people were slightly endeared to her because of her unassuming and somewhat pure nature and then it was Peeta's turn.
The Star Crossed Lovers
Peeta Mellark may seem unassuming, kind and weak but he also has one skill that no one could have known before hand, Peeta knows how to work a crowd, during his interview with Claudius Templesmith the legendary announcer of the games. When asked what he would miss most about home Peeta talked about the lovely girl of his dreams and what he wished could have happened before he had left. Then, as if a master storyteller, when Claudius mentions how if he wins possibly he could now begin that romance with the girl of his dreams Peeta drops the Bombshell that would change the games: It was impossible for him to start the romance with the girl of his dreams because she had come with him to the Capitol. The girl of his dreams was Katniss Everdene and by the rules of the Hunger Games only one of them could survive, and as the camera pans to a face more shocked than any other Katniss Everdene seems to feel the world around her closing in.
Now while it seems that everything else is going to form for the games some of the strange occurrences between Peeta, Katniss and some of the Careers appears to have change the hearts of the Capitol. Peeta seems to be protecting Katniss, Katniss does not directly appear to be trying to kill Peeta and while everyone else is out to kill each other it seems the Capitol's citizenry have had a change of heart, they want this Budding Romance between Peeta and Katniss to develop and as such an Announcement is made while they are down to around the final 8 and two districts both have the Male and Female still alive. In Claudius's booming voice: "If two tributes from the same district are alive at the end of the games, there can be TWO Victors this year" changing not only the dynamics of how Katniss goes about her hunting for her fellow tributes but also gives her a mission "Find Peeta Mellark". Supposedly Peeta had been gravely wounded after he had possibly protected her from one of the Careers and as he had not been seen in days Katniss was not sure where to look but she had to find him, she does, finds him sick and near death, but nurses him as close to health as she can with her limited healing skills. Unfortunately because of how grave the wound was Katniss(with the help of Haymitch) has to make a grave decision and attend a "feast" where items that all parties appear to need will be provided but that will also be another blood bath as all the tributes will be there together. Peeta protests, he is in no shape to help and does not want the love of his life to die just to save him, she on the other hand while not sure of her feelings for Peeta through some type of survivors understanding mind-meld with Haymitch realizes that keeping Peeta alive will get her better gifts from her sponsors and allow them both to stand a better chance.
With the help of a local Seam remedy that while it will not cure his illness does cause sleep(provided by Haymitch) Katniss makes it to the "Feast" at the Cornucopia and after a wild series of events procures the medicine for Peeta. After a few more days and time for both to heal up Peeta and Katniss meet the final tribute from the other sector and while Peeta is not perfect they do survive and make it to be the final two contestants. Unfortunately the leaders of the Hunger Games giveth and they also taketh away, when it is down to only Peeta and Katniss and they are waiting to hear the games end a new announcement is made negating the previous allowance for two Victors. Looking in to each others eyes the two Seam Tributes prepare to end both of their lives and rob the Capitol of is heart wrenching end only for them to be both announced as victors and the scrubbing up and full medical work up to begin.
It is also unfortunately the beginning of a lot more trouble for Katniss Everdene.
Catching Fire
While the rest of the Capitol and many of the Districts appear to have believed the love story that was Katniss and Peeta some see it as convenient and many of the leaders in the Capital see Katniss's final act not as one of extreme love but as one of Defiance. Defiance that could cause the rest of the districts to rise up and fight off the yoke of the oppressive Capitol, after getting a visit from President Snow at her home in Victory Village Katniss is given a harrowing ultimatum:prove to the president and all of the rest of her doubters during her victory tour that her love for Peeta is real or else her family, friends, and COUSINS will pay the price. In this case her Cousin is Gale, since many of the people in Seam share Olive colored skin, Brownish hair and dark eyes many are thought to be related, which of course was a lie but no one in Seam wanted to burst the Star Crossed Lovers bubble if there was even a chance both of them could return alive. Unfortunately Katniss has never really had time to figure out her feelings for Gale, and now she also must sort out her feelings for Peeta or else lose them all.
Life in the village is not as fun as originally thought and now during the tour a few districts seem to be on the verge of exploding and some actually have shots fired as unity is shown by People in Districts not of their own with the Victors from District 12. Their Victory over the rules and against the odds have once again give people hope in the face of the pain that is the birth of the Hunger Games the Defeat going on 75 years ago.
During their Victory tour Peeta and Katniss announce plans to get married, which brings joy to all in the Capitol and the districts, wedding dresses are designed, the people put it to a vote and the hopes of the people are with the two victors who survived the Hunger Games together. As the tour takes them through all districts, then the Capitol and back to their own, Katniss and Peeta go through their motions with Peeta none the wiser of the threat, she has told Haymitch hoping he could give her guidance but even he is unsure. After a riot Peeta demands they tell him all and they all agree no more secrets between them because if they are to make it through whatever punishment President Snow intends they must do it together. The whirlwind tour and festival attitude around them is the backdrop for another great occurrence in the reaping, this is the 75th year, a Quarter Quell and they are always special.
Katniss returns home after learning of the Presidents disapproval of her efforts she did not convince him, he does not believe. Things in the Seam are starting to get worse, there is a new head of the Peacekeepers and unfortunately Gale does not find this out until he takes a wild turkey(the former head of the Peacekeepers favorite) to his door only to find a strange face with a love for the whip. Gales body is beaten to a bloody pulp, a PeaceKeeper lays on the ground and Katniss is injured in trying to protect her long time friend and partner. After a few of the other long time local PeaceKeepers mention that the punishment seems to have be properly doled out Katniss and friends rush Gale to her home and her mother helps tend to his wounds. Unfortunately while she is a great hunter Katniss seems to have no stomach for this she tries to be as steady as she can but she is starting to feel stir crazy with all the pressures mounting and her inability to do anything for her injured friend.
During an outing into the woods Katniss meets escapees from District 8 wearing stolen uniforms that don't quite fit them and telling her of how the conspiracy was formed using the noise in their factory(District 8 weaved Textiles) that allowed for a short lived uprising and their escape. Katniss realizes that though unintended she has became somewhat of a symbol for the people of the districts, the girl who stood up to the cruelty and did not bend, the girl who grasped hope back from the jaws of despair, who won and got to keep her "Possibly" true love. A girl of 16, who snatched back her future and her happiness from the Capitol. As she goes through a change of heart on her way back to her home she discovers that the electric fence that surrounds the Seam, the faulty, rarely on, electric fence is not only operational but keeping her from easily slipping back into Seam. It takes her a minute but she does find her way into the city, to the surprise of the two PeaceKeepers waiting to give her the message about the fence being turned on at her home.
One night on TV the Capitol's punishment is finally announced, one of the things that brings grandeur to the whole Quarter Quell experience is the opening of the special stipulations. One quarter there were double the tributes from each village announced from a special envelope sealed until the time of its Quell. This year President snow announces that the Tributes would be selected from the winners of previous Hunger Games, which while in other districts that might bring a decent amount of applicants in Seam it allows for only 3:Katniss the only girl and thus guaranteed to be going, Peeta and Haymitch. In her mind Katniss has one Goal:Keep Peeta Alive! there is no doubt in her mind it will be her and Peeta going, there is no way Peeta would not volunteer for their aged Mentor if his name was called and there would be nothing they could do to stop him. Being a victor, Haymitch has another problem many of the people who will be in the arena with Katniss's arrows pointed at their throats will be old friends, people whom with his reaping days over he had gotten to know at each years games.
This book takes a lot of twists and turns as it attempts to not only take you deeper inside of Haymitch's world but also to show what happens to people once they have beaten the odds and earned in essence a free pass from the horrors of the Capitol. Public image is not always to be believed and sometimes ones true benefit as well as enemy is not who they first appear. As Katniss grows up in these books her mind may be made up but it isn't as rigid as even she believes as she has to backtrack on many an initial judgment and accept many an unexpected friend. As much as she hates getting attached to people in the games there will be more faces she will dread the loss of as once again she enters a contest where 24 enter and this time she is guaranteed that only one will leave, and in Katniss's mind this time that one is Peeta Mellark, no matter how determined he is to make it her.
There is one main obstacle to Katniss's goal of getting her for the cameras love out alive, Peeta does not want to live in a world where Katniss doesn't exist and he will do everything in his power to make sure Katniss is the winner of these the 75th Hunger Games, Quarter Quell be damned, and President Snow be damned with them.
The way this book ends is a perfect set up for the next book, the uncertainty as it seems her alliance had unexpectedly come to an end only to end up no where near where you thought is the perfect twist. It isn't easy and yes I could make a correlation between this sequel and a certain movie from my child hood but hey borrowing from a proven formula is not a bad thing, especially if it adds a little more urgency to the hero's thoughts. How people show their defiance against the Capitol as well as when or if they are punished for it is also handled well in this book, the boot that the Capitol has been using is well trained but lack finesse. Where in previous years excessive force might have broken the spirit have they miscalculated, have they gone a step to far and given a rebellion not only a place to breed but a fuel that refuses to exhaust itself.
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