Judithe

I finished this a couple of hours ago. Why didn't I post right away? Well, I was too busy starting Mockingjay!

My initial impressions were: a fantastic, fast-paced, twisty, keep-you-guessing story...it's a disturbing and compelling tale. It picks up shortly after The Hunger Games. Just enough background detail to refresh your memory if you haven't read the first recently, but not too much that it will bore you if, like me, you read it a few weeks ago.

President Snow doesn't believe Katniss, and she is once again in a fight for not only her life, but the lives of everyone she loves. You know from the start that there really is no way she can win against Snow, but it only comes out gradually the extent of the fire that she and Peeta were tinder for. The characters are real and empathetic. Most of the cast from The Hunger Games is back, and the twist with the Quell is just wicked. At the end, I had to go back and read it again, just because I was reading so fast to find out what happened that I wasn't sure what actually happened.

This was literally a "canNOT put it down read. I am quite glad I didn't start this trilogy until all three volumes were out...it must have been agony to wait almost a full year!