Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - De ballade van slangen en zangvogels

This book is so complexly intertwined with the previously written stories that your mind is blown at the attention to detail and connections. Suzanne Collins is a brilliant artist in character design and political allusions. I look forward to a reread of the entire series to pick up on details I missed.

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eerieatmosphere's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.25

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words_and_dreams's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I do love a nuanced villain story and this delivered.
Set 60 years before the original Hunger Game series, we follow the POV of Snow, a young and ambitious student in the capital.
Collins does a good job of making us feel empathy for him whilst still showing us the early signs of who and what he will become. He is never the hero but he had so much potential to be, therein lies the tragedy.
Lucy is an interesting figure as we never get a full picture of her. We see her through Snow's eyes, as a tribute that can bring him victory, a love that belongs to him or an enemy. She is only ever what he needs her to be. I have seen some reviewers of book and movie complain that we don't get to know her but that's kind of the point.
Not as great as the original series but still had me hooked. My main issue with it was the pacing was a little off at times, a lull two thirds in and then the end seems a little rushed.

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sqbxxks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Soooo where do I even begin.

First of all I loved the idea and concept of the book. I love reading about the flip side of things. Seeing contradicting POVs and exploring a world I already know even more. This book is about influence and indoctrination. This book is deeply philosophical and reflects on different philosophical constitutional standpoints which I found so amazingly incorporated into the book. Students discussing war plans in class, debating moral questions about humanity, Coriolanus having to write a paper on the good side of war,to justify war, the topic of education, the topic of reputation, the privilege of the rich: if one book lets you reflect on everything going wrong in the world it is this one.

I have never read a book which focuses on how the boy turns into the villain and tbh I loved and hated it at the same time. When you find the MC of a book not likeable or you know how the story will end it can be really frustrating to follow the characters train of thoughts. There are people who sympathize with Snow after reading the book? Showing this human side of him made it even worse for me, made me hate him even more. It really shows how deeply evil he is.

This book made me feel so bad at times, it was so brutal and honestly gross: but that was the point right. A mirror for the reader to reflect the real world, the past and the essence of being a human. Reading this at this time with everything happening in the world- I think one has to be prepared when going into this book. It can be deeply upsetting (check trigger warnings!)

The only thing I didn’t like was that this book felt sometimes repetitive due to the fact that we follow Coriolanus living his “normal life” but the more I think about this fact the more I reflect on how this is also so intentional by the author: this book’s purpose is not to be the most adventurous one like the HG often is.

I loved seeing this other side to the Games and how ideas were crafted that influenced Katnisse´s Games 70 years later. The parallels and explanations, the deeper insight and understanding we got of many characters and plot points.

So overall when we talk about the topics discussed, the brilliantness of the author I think this book is a masterpiece but the execution could have been a little bit better. But I loved coming back to this world again and I want to read about the backstory of more characters like Effie Trinket or Haymitch!

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