Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

20 reviews

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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kirbylover16's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
Suzanne Collins is so good at character development. In The Hunger Games, she takes one of the most evil characters in the series and makes the reader empathize with him. She does this by showing how even the most powerful people in the Capitol can be victims of the society they live in. President Snow's lack of control over his own life and the resulting choices he makes show excellent characterization. The new characters like Lucy Gray and Dean Highbottom are fantastic too. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it delved deeply into themes of class, propaganda, and indoctrination. It was interesting to observe how the games transformed over time and the reasons behind these changes. I also appreciated the backstory provided on the creation of the games, as well as the integration of DNA and scientific elements.

My biggest complaints are all in the last third of the book. I was expecting the prequel to The Hunger Games book to be about the Hunger Games themselves, but it’s actually about the Capitol and District 12 again. Why?? We already spent so much time in District 12 in the original series! I think other districts deserve a little more love. I wish Snow got to go to District 2. The games in this book are so small that in-universe they are erased! The romance between Lucy and Snow is enjoyable. But the two of them don't really know each other, and it feels like something is missing.
If I'm supposed to believe that Lucy was using Snow, you need to give me more proof. The quick betrayal is written weirdly. Like blink and you miss it. 
Last third was so rushed that could she not write another chapter or two?

 

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benegesserwitch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25


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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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rhiannonhoward's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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bxnny's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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magsbord's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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celina246's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Suzanne Collins was in her bag with this one. this was suchhh a great book I could not put it down.

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mconroy9137's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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theaceofpages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Let me preface this by saying that I listened to the audiobook. I suspect that this has a negative effect in my reading experience and I have attempted to adjust my rating bases on this. I switched between being okay with the narrator and being very frustrated. There are a lot of songs and while I don't expect them to come up with a whole score for an audiobook, some kind of tone, enthusiasm, energy (you get the idea) would have been a massive improvement. The Gem of Panem sounds almost AI generated and his female "singing" voice is just frustrating. Other than that the narrator was okay, but nothing special either.

Set not too long after the war against the rebels, this book explores the Capitol and the early Hunger Games through the eyes of Snow (yes, that Snow). He is assigned as a mentor and plans to exploit this to ensure a good future for himself. Unfortunately for him, he is assigned the underdog of the underdogs - Lucy Gray Baird the district 12 female tribute. But she is not your usual district 13 citizen and Snow works with her to try ensure her survival and his future.

It's been a while since I've read the original trilogy (maybe I should reread them actually...) but I remember what reading it was like. I enjoyed the prequel but it reads a lot like fanfiction. And I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way. There are a lot of what feel like *see, see* moments (e.g. several references to the katniss plant, songs, I'm sure there are several others I'm missing). There were parts I absolutely loved and others that... Yeah. I think parts could have been better/explained more/etc. The book maybe tries to fit a bit too much story in. I'd say it maybe contains content equal to about two of the original trilogy. There were also parts of the end that I just didn't like, but others were interesting

It's quite a lot more violent than the original books. It gets quite disturbing at times. You get to see into parts of just how messed up the Capitol is. I absolutely loved the world building and the insight into the Capitol it provided. I think this was my favourite part of the book. Honestly, I'd be interested in reading more about it, particularly the
genetics lab
(not really a spoiler but a thing that exists). It was inter sting to see into the aftermath of the war and at least at this point that not everyone lives the same glamorous lifestyle. Being able to see how things started growing into the world we saw in the last book was great. The games (still relatively new) are quite different to what we see then. 

I wasn't a big fan of the main characters. I know other liked her but Lucy annoyed me, although I don't know how much of that is because of Snow's views. Snow... Well, I didn't like him. Not because of who he becomes but because who he is in this book. I know he's young but he's kind of all over the place. I think it might be an attempt to make him complex, but it just didn't work for me. It is an interesting look into how mind works though and his thought processes and reasoning.

Was it worth reading? Yes. Just be prepared for something far darker than the original trilogy that somehow managed to be the same and nothing like it at the same time. I think it delves into a lot of interesting ideas and expands on the world 

Some notes on some of the content warnings (all are individually spoilered)
 
Child death:
Obviously these would occur, bit I thought it's Worth mentioning that these are more on page than I remember the original trilogy being

Child abuse:
Let's just say that the cushy conditiobs the tributes live in weren't a thing in the past

Murder:
Includes execution

War:
In the past. Lot's of mentions of the aftermath

Gaslighting:
Propaganda


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