In our sequel to The Hunger Games, we see what we were so eager to learn at the conclusion of book one--what now? This year's games are completed, and now we have to live in the aftermath. (I won't be discussing the plot much, because it would be chocked full of spoilers.) 
 Catching Fire just wasn't as strong as the first book. In fact, I spent a lot of time waiting for things to happen, which was probably the entire first half of the book. But when we started talking rebellion and uprising, that's when things started to get interesting. 
 I don't know what happened to Katniss's character here. She was strong and confident in book one, but seems to have lost her personality. She and Peeta are trying to keep up with this "star-crossed lovers" thing for the cameras, in which she fails miserably. She acted the part well enough in the Games to convince the entire world she was in love. So what happened? 
 I really enjoyed seeing Gale again, even if his parts were small. I'm slightly disappointed, though, that Katniss hardly considers him. Sure, every so often she does something for the cameras and wonders, "what does Gale think about this?" But I really expected more inner struggles, considering how close she is to Gale and how much she isn't in love with Peeta. Even when the two boys are in the same room together, you'd never think there was this sort of rivalry between them. It fell short. 
 Of course, we're left with a serious cliffhanger at the end. I'm expecting book three to make up for this one. I get that book two had to happen, and maybe the entire thing is plot filler. There better be an awesome conclusion.