#18 in Adventure
Catching Fire
- 400
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
- Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Series
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Our view
Many readers rate this second volume above the first, and it is easy to see why: it reads quickly, and from its second part on the reveals come thick and fast. Those twists are the book’s real strength, along with a memorable supporting cast. Some readers tire of the drawn-out romantic indecision between Gale and Peeta. The ending all but obliges you to pick up the next book.
Worth knowing The middle book of the trilogy, published in September 2009. It turns the arena story toward the politics around it, and its ending leads straight into Mockingjay, so keep the third book at hand. Francis Lawrence directed the 2013 film, taking over from Gary Ross, and stayed with the series for the films that followed.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Catching Fire is a 2009 dystopian young adult fiction novel by the American novelist Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games series. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of a now 17 year old Katniss Everdeen and the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games.
Reading order · The Hunger Games
Full order & progress →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.2 across 5,441 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 97% of the weight and the score stays at 8.2 — the Adventure average of 7.8 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 5.1K | 95% |
| Open Library | 8.2 | 296 | 5% |
Frequently asked
What age is Catching Fire for?
Catching Fire sits on the Young adult shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 13 and up. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 400 pages — longer than 56% of the ranked books in Adventure.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Adventure — with scores between 7.6 and 8.4, closest to this book.
