Catching Fire

So I actually read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins a couple weeks ago, but have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog about it, or anything that I've been reading lately. And yes, I got to read it before it even hit the bookstores. I was super pumped to read this book because if you didn't know it's the sequel to The Hunger Games (which you should go out and buy ASAP!), and who wouldn't be excited to read the sequel to a book that freaking blows your mind? I'm sad to say though that Catching Fire was disappointing for me- there I've said it. I can't believe that I said it, but it sucked compared to Hunger Games. I know you can't really compare the two, but this was definitely a letdown. And here's why:

1. Katniss is being her stupid self and trying to "decide" whether she likes Gale as just a friend or considers him MORE than a friend- though she SPECIFICALLY said in Hunger Games that she's NEVER thought of Gale as more than a friend and that she considers him like a BROTHER (see page 10 if you don't believe me). And I quote:
"There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me...You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find."
*Take that Lyndi!*

2. Katniss is trying to decide whether she actually likes Peeta or not- more so than what she pretends at for the public. Seriously- make up your mind! If she doesn't take him soon, I will!

3. The story's great and I can see how it would be captivating, but it doesn't move as well as The Hunger Games- it took me roughly 2/3 or the book or so to get into the story, and even then the pages didn't pull me in. The storyline was great and I can see how others thought it was good, but I just couldn't get sucked in. And it didn't help that Katniss kept whining about whether she loved Gale or whether she loved Peeta, blah blah blah. Stop being indecisive!

Those were my main grievances with the novel- you can definitely tell that this book was more of a setup for the third, which may have been why it bombed. It was definitely an intermediary book that had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and make connections between the first and third books. Hopefully when I read it again I can get over Katniss' angst and whining and get wrapped up in the story. I hope? Please?