This story is the prequel to the well-known and successful saga “The Hunger Games”. The events which take place date back to the time before the war between the Capitol and the districts. The 10th Hunger Games will be held, and for the first time those who will fight will have mentors. One of them, the protagonist of the novel, is a troubled and very smart teenager named Coriolanus Snow (the future president Snow, from the previous trilogy). The young man falls in love with the girl from the districts he mentors, and discovers the many flaws in the Capitol system.
The novel is not “more of the same”. It is evident that the author utilises the fictitious world that she knows very well, but the morals of the novel and the motivations of the protagonists are different. There is also more depth to the people and the circumstances. In this respect she has evolved as an author, however she loses the narrative rhythm the previous books had, and the ending is somewhat rushed.