Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

*WARNING! SPOILER ALERT*

I don't normally post spoilers, but because I am having great difficulty with this review, I decided to make it an all-out gush fest and share with you just what I loved about Catching Fire. If you haven't read it yet, please go to the library/your local bookstore/amazon and get a copy NOW! (After reading The Hunger Games first, of course.)

Now that you've been warned, it's time for the gush fest.

Except I don't even know where to begin!

1. The scene where Katniss thanks the people of District 11 and the entire crowd salutes her brought me to tears. It reminded me of HP6 when the students raise their wands in honor of Dumbledore, and the end of The Return of the King (movie) when the entire kingdom, including the king, bow down to the hobbits. It was such a touching moment that I still think about it all.the.time.
2. Team Peeta. Team Peeta. Team Peeta. I don't not like Gale, but Peeta's love for Katniss is so honest and innocent that I can't even consider rooting for the other team. Plus he's the boy with the bread. And I love me some bread.
3. There are plenty of love triangles out there, but Katniss may be the only girl in the middle I don't want to punch. It's hard enough picking between two guys like Peeta and Gale, but when you add in the fact that Katniss is constantly being forced to fight for her life, you can hardly blame her for having uncertainties. We already know whose team I'm on, but giving Gale (or Peeta for that matter) the cold shoulder isn't exactly easy to do.
4. Dear sweet Cinna. He may not have much to say in the ways of words, but when Katniss appears in his costumes, his voice is heard loud and clear. I felt like I was watching with the rest of Panem when Katniss goes up in flames revealing a feathered bodice in place of her wedding dress. I think I even gasped out loud at that moment.
5. Finnick. Mags. Beetee. Wiress. Even Johanna. The victors who team up with Katniss and Peeta all bring something special to the table. In the beginning I kept thinking to myself that these were too many people to keep track of, but the story would not have been the same without them.
6. Best wow-I-never-saw-that-coming ending EVER! I don't even know what to say, so I'm going to include a favorite quote:
• The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of the rebellion. 
7. This doesn't really have anything to do with the book, but when I came home practically screaming from the library, Josh took one look at CF and said, "That must be written by the author of The Hunger Games." My heart swelled with pride that he noticed ;)