lucyford's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

Honestly, this is probably my favorite Hunger Games book yet. I loved the world-building and connections to the previous books, and the character depth of all the characters was amazing. Everything about it is so creative and I was continuously shocked by the genius ideas of the Author. Definitely worth reading (and watching the movie)! 

The only thing I didn’t like was that you were never super attached to the characters because you generally know where they’re going to end up (could also be a result of watching the movie first though).

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tabea1409's review against another edition

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

3.5


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oceanbluetay's review against another edition

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

3.5


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pandorasirens's review against another edition

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

3.75


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sunflower7skull's review against another edition

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

4.5

Very interesting to watch the character arc!

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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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martysaurus27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I had such high hopes, but this turned into a hate-read almost instantly. This was a premise that asked so many good questions about the world of the Hunger Games and how they came to be in the aftermath of The War, and instead it seems the only questions the author asked were, "Damnit, my draft is due WHEN?" and "This is going to be made into a movie regardless, right?" 

I remember the original trilogy fondly - granted, I was a kid with low literary expectations - but the writing in TBoSaS was just too sloppy to get past. Endless lazy exposition ("He buttoned his shirt - and it reminded him of [paragraphs of lore]"), an eye-rolling circus of one-dimensional characters (including the insufferably goofy Not Like Other Girls™️ female protagonist who is essentially a poor, Appalachian Jessica Day with snakes her pockets), an implausible romance ramrodded into the plot seemingly against its will, and a plot that consistently did just about the least interesting thing possible with every opportunity... Snow might land on top, but this book sure doesn't.

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genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

I’m usually a big believer in reading the book before watching the movie adaptation, but this was a rare exception. I finally gave in and watched the movie on a long flight, but I actually ended up being grateful that I’d watched the movie first. After watching the film adaptation and then reading the book only a couple of weeks later, there were many moments when I realized that certain elements of the original book had been altered or even completely omitted from the movie version. Had I read the book when it first came out and then watched the movie later, I doubt I would have recognized as many of the differences. I personally enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between the original source material and the film adaptation, which also kept me actively engaged in the storyline and provided a sense of urgency to discover what might happen next every time I had to set the book aside. Certain elements of the book were definitely relatively dark and violently gruesome, which explains why some events were modified or removed in the film version, but this intense backstory helps to provide context for the seemingly heartless President Snow that later appears in The Hunger Games. I found the storyline to be extremely intriguing and enjoyed the dynamics between the various characters. I would highly recommend this book, especially to people who grew up loving the original Hunger Games series.

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claire_b322's review against another edition

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

5.0


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moonworld3's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the reviews based on expectations for snow and tigris miss the point of the book … collins is clearly showing how a known villain, through both nurture and nature, came to be. there can’t be resolution in this book because we already know snow’s fate from the original trilogy. villains are always more interesting.

it’s strange to read this in a time when american politicians are financially and vocally supporting mass genocide of palestinian children (and humans, generally). what do their villain origin stories look like?

(-1 star for the first part dragging  slightly, -1 star for lucy gray being a pick me — we get it girl, you aren’t capitol or district — throughout the story, +1 star for
lucy gray figuring snow out and sending a snake to bite him
)

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