Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - De ballade van slangen en zangvogels

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!

Content Warnings

vannahcabana's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

If you’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy then you’ll enjoy this book. It follows the story of President Snow from his younger years. Definitely filled in some story line info for the trilogy. It’s obviously dark in theme like the trilogy so be prepared!

Content Warnings

yumaa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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esophagus18's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

madflatt's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

bella_01's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Deciding whether to rate this book 5* or not was a tough decision. The writing was incredible and the story had me enthralled, but after finishing the book, I felt severely bothered. Eventually I realised that the fact it bothered me so much speaks volumes for the quality of the writing, and is absolutely deserving of 5*.

I loved that Suzanne Collins tied the books together so cleanly. Even down to the small details, nothing felt like an afterthought, and despite not long finishing the trilogy, I'd love to read the books side-by-side to identify any of these small links that I missed.

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