Katniss and Peeta barely survived their experience in the Gladitorial survival-based Hunger Games in the previous novel of the same name. They have now returned to their home in District 12, where they will have an opportunity to enjoy the experience and wealth that comes along with being winners of the games. They have to leave to travel through the twelve districts on a victory tour before returning home.

As they visit a number of the districts, they see signs of rebellion among some of the citizens of Panem. At the end of their games, Katniss had threatened to poison both herself and the very wounded Peeta in order to force the Gamemasters to let them both live. Her actions inspired a number of other people throughout the country to consider rebelling against the Capitol in similar ways. The Capitol, led by President Snow, does what it can to halt the troubles before they spread. The Capitol has no trouble in controlling the districts, particularly after it nuked the former District 13 decades earlier.

The troubles are continuing as the next round of the annual Hunger Games approach. The games will be special since it is the 25 anniversary (or Quarter Quell) of the event, which usually means a shakeup to make them even more exciting. This time, each of the districts are going to make the Districts choose their representatives (1 male, and 1 female) from the surviving winners of previous games rather than from the district's youth. Since Katniss is the only surviving female winner, she must return. She will either be joined by Peeta or Haymitch, the man who was their coach the previous year. It is clear that this might be another way to crush the hero of the rebellion with legitimate means. Now it will be up to Katniss and her partner to survive another round of the games. Can they do it again?

Collins masterfully brings back favorite characters for the readers of the first book in the trilogy, which will conclude with Mockingjay due out at the end of summer. It is hard not to feel for Katniss as she is being forced to sacrifice her true love for the miner Gale in order to protect those around her because the Capitol expects her to live up to her declarations of love for Peeta, which was her method for explaining her actions at the end fo the previous round of games.

Once again, Collins allows Katniss to connect with some of her fellow competitors. This is very difficult as they are basically fighting against the arena and each other in a last-man-standing competition to the death. That is the richness of the writing, though, as it blends a high level of action with interesting and complex characters. It is not always to see who is a friend and who is an enemy.

The book is a little slower in the earlier chapters. This allows for a further exploration of the background information to help explain where things are going later in the books. This is not boring, but it might be a bit of a disappointment for fans hoping to quickly dive back into the action of the games. With that said, the book definitely lives up to the anticipation built up by the first book and leaves the readers pining for the final installment thanks to a big cliffhanger at the end.

I know I can't wait to get my hands on the final book!