In the first few chapters, the protagonist's childhood friend kisses her unexpectedly. She is uncomfortable and confused as a result. Later on, an adult character forces a kiss on the teenage protagonist. Another adult flirts with her, and another gets naked in front of her. There is mention that one character, who is an adult in the narrative of this book, was groomed into starting affairs with rich adult women when he was a 16 years old. As with the first book, a key part of the plot is the presumably primarily adult audience of the Hunger Games being deeply invested in the protagonist's performed romantic relationship with another character. The protagonist feels a lot of pressure to kiss him and perform romantic devotion to him even though she does not feel those feelings.