** spoiler alert ** 
 The second book of the Hunger Games trilogy comes at you full force once again and doesn't let you go till the very last page. 
 Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster children for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol... 
 I'm not sure if I got accustomed to the violent premis of the first book, and so didn't become as effected by this round of the Hunger Games, or if it was just that much less intense. But whatever it was, I didn't find myself holding my breath in anticipation as much this time around. However, the awesomeness of the design of the arena was so incredibly intriguing that I simply could not put the story down anyway. I found myself less scared for Katniss of the other victors (possibly because I sensed some sort of silent alliance between them) and more petrified of what the arena would do to her and Peeta hour by hour. The crazy chemical fog attack was NUTS as was the swarm of monkeys. 
 Even though I really enjoyed this book, I have to say that I still enjoyed the first one a little bit more. They are both equally intense and intriguing, and obviously have the same great writing... But, I guess the first one was less political and more about surviving being hunted in the wilderness. There wasn't really an alterier agenda. SURVIVE, plain and simple... This one, had so many more aspects to it. AND it was very obvious that The Capitol controlled the unrealistic arena much more than the first one. You couldn't forget who was in control in this book... And I guess that's was kind of the point.