One year after the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return to district 12 in Panem, the post-apocalyptic country after a war in the USA. They both survived the games and this was interpreted as a rebellion against all powerful Capitol. President Snow doesn’t like this rebellion, so he warns Katniss to calm the feelings of people during the Victory Tour around the districts with the help of eccentric Effie Trinket. During their visit to district 11, a black old man holds up three fingers in sign of respect and honor to Katniss, but the he is taken by peacekeepers and killed in front of everyone, showing people that the Capitol will not accept rebellion from anyone.
Katniss gets furious, but Haymitch, her mentor and trainer, advises her to be careful, as the Capitol want her dead. She lives now with her mum and her sister Primrose in a luxury house in Victor’s Village, but they are not happy, so she plans to run away with Gale, her love in District 12. But her plans are destroyed by Romulus Thread, a violent peacekeeper who starts a period of terror in the district. To their despair, Katniss and Peeta learn that the Capitol has designed a terrible plan to get rid of them and stop all ideas of rebellion. The 75th Hunger Games will have as tributes past victors from every district, including Katniss and Peeta.
During the training week, they visit President Snow in the Capitol. Cinna, Katniss’ stylist designs for her a beautiful wedding dress that catches fires and turns into a mockingjay, revealing Katniss as a future leader of the rebellion in Panem in front of the huge audience of Caesar Flickerman TV show. The Capitol doesn’t like this and with the help of Plutarch Heavensbee, the new gamemaker, they plot evil plans to kill Katniss in the jungle-like arena of the games. They also meet the other tributes: Gloss and Cashmere, a pair of brother and sister from district 1, two technology geeks, Wiress and Beetee from district 3 and Johanna from district 7. The most dangerous opponents from district 2, Brutus and Enobaria are professional, and equally dangerous is the deadly combination of jungle, island and beaches in the arena designed by Plutarch Heavensbee.
Handsome and arrogant Finnick and the old lady Mags from district 4 turn out to be allies in the arena. This is excellent, as apart from fighting the rest of the tributes, they have to survive the attack wild monkeys, poisonous fog, dangerous thunderbolts and tidal waves.
The Hunger Games get more and more complicated and become a nightmare, so the surviving tributes need to get together and device a plan to stay alive and resist the Capitol… or kill one another in a blood-filled battle.