The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
pysselfia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Classism, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Addiction, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Child death, Gaslighting, War, Torture, Classism, Death, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Confinement, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Vomit, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Racial slurs
theaceofpages's review against another edition
- 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
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
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 worldÂ
Some notes on some of the content warnings (all are individually spoilered)
Child death:
Child abuse:
Murder:
War:
Gaslighting:
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, War, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Police brutality, Confinement, Medical trauma, Deportation, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Body horror, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Animal death, Vomit, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, and Addiction
rylin_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Cannibalism
sariereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Murder, Addiction, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug use
luna_is_superior's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Violence, War, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Vomit
themelleh's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Racism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Classism, Death, Vomit, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Murder, Dementia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
fronk's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gaslighting, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Addiction
erynelle's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism
kccool12255's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When I read this book for the first time, I did not like it. I had to DNF around 118 pages because I just couldn't take the slow-pacing anymore, I didn't know what was going on, and it just confused the heck out of me. I HATE DNFing books, I only do it when I absolutely just cannot do it anymore, but it was necessary at the time. And for a while, I didn't see any people who were also hating on this terrible book, and it made me angry. For a minute there, hating on this book was my favorite thing to do. However, my best friends loved it, I was putting off the rest of my reading list, and I figured, why not give it another chance.
I would like to formally apologize for hating on this book with the magnitude and the severity that I have for the best two years. While it is not the best book in the world, it in no way deserves that level of hatred. And I would also like to apologize to my best friends, for hating on them too.
Now, with that out of the way, let's get into the review!
Listen, I get that this is a prequel. We have to fit a hunger games in here, AND Snow's story. However, THE REST OF THE TRILOGY IS 300 PAGES. THIS IS 500. I GET IT, BUT WHY? And we have to face the hurdle of getting past the first 100 pages before the games ACTUALLY get set into motion, which is probably why I didn't continue reading this book the first time around. I suppose it's my OWN fault that this took me a literal month to read, but it's so. long. The beginning could've been paced much better, that's all I'm saying.
I also understand that this is a fantasy and dystopian universe, and the names are gonna be whack, but the trilogy had names that were just a tad bit weird. Suzanne Collins goes BONKERS on the names in this book. I dare you to find me one person who can pronounce Coriolanus properly. I DARE YOU. (Apparently everyone pronounces it like Cornelius? I always thought of it as "Cor-ee-oh-lay-nus", but apparently it's "Cor-yoh-lay-nus", which I guess makes sense with the Coryo nickname, but like. Still.) And I wish the tributes in the hunger games were more memorable, because the only one who really stands out is Lucy Gray herself. In the original trilogy, Katniss and Peeta were the standouts, but there were also other tributes that you could root for and that you wanted to succeed. In this book, no one else is really developed, so you don't really feel anything when they die. Which, by the way, A LOT OF THEM DO, BEFORE THE ACTUAL GAMES. I wish over half the tributes had not died before the actual games
I'm also not totally on-board with Snow coming up with literally EVERYTHING. I GET that this man is the eventual president of the nation and that the hunger games would not be what they are without him, but that doesn't mean he has to come up with EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE CURRENT GAMES. I would've preferred if some ideas had emerged over time, and not just been thought up by him on the spot. I don't know if Snow came up with EVERYTHING in the current hunger games in this book, but he definitely came up with a lot.
On the topic of Snow, it may or may not have been his actor in the movie that helped me get through this book (hehe). But that's a topic for another day. Reading in Snow's third-person POV is what provides a lot of the comedy from this book. Because you know what the child-murder games are missing? COMEDY. (For legal reasons, this is a joke). Snow is so mean and petty, but it's absolutely hilarious, some of the things he says. I clearly remember the moment in which I found my favorite line in this book. Please enjoy the comedy stylings of Coriolanus Snow below:
"I started out as a medical doctor, you know," Dr. Gaul said. "Obstetrics."
How awful, Coriolanus thought. To have you be the first person in the world a baby sees.
IT IS SO MEAN BUT SO FUNNY. I CAN'T.
On the topic of Dr. Gaul, I have...mixed feelings about her. She's definitely better than Dean Highbottom, who is by far one of the stupidest characters I have ever seen in a book, my GOSH.
Now, on to the romance, which, knowing me, it's surprising that I've taken this long to mention it. First off, we've done tribute-tribute pairings, with Katniss and Peeta, and SORT OF done mentor-mentor pairings, with Effie and Haymitch, in the original trilogy, so I LOVE the direction Suzanne Collins went with this. MENTOR-TRIBUTE ROMANCE? YESSSSSSSS. I was LIVING for their first kiss, it was so perfect.
I'm gonna include the small little tidbits here, before I round this out. I don't really like Tigris being Snow's cousin, I don't THINK it was ever mentioned in the actual trilogy and it feels kinda shoe-horned in there. I do love what they do with her character, but I wish she had just been a good friend to Snow. And I'm not gonna put too much about Sejanus, because the fandom does enough of that, but he is precious.
I was at first iffy about the symbolism and foreshadowing of future events in this book, but I think it works out well. SO FREAKIN GOOD. I WAS SHOCKED MULTIPLE TIMES.
Overall, does this book do the trilogy justice? Not really, but it's still a lot of fun. I actually had a good time, and I'm excited for the movie to come out. It's not my favorite book in the world, but it's not the worst.Â
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Murder, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, War, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Medical content, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol