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rebekkamafia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
bellebeaumont95'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tracks a pivotal time in a young Coriolanus Snow's life, all the moments that lead up to him becoming the President of Panem by the time of Katniss' Hunger Games, 64 years after the events of this book.
It's such a well-crafted franchise. The worldbuilding in this one is still very well thought out, rich and just phenomenal, each character serves a very clear purpose in the story, and as usual, the perspective is where the book really shines. We spend the entire time seeing events unfold from Snow's POV, and while we are at times drawn to empathize with him, since he is a very nuanced character, at every turn it's inescapably clear that he always had choices. Collins shows this vividly through characters like Tigris, Sejanus, Lucy Gray, even some of his classmates from the Capitol (which really surprised me, I hope Lysistrata had a nice life far away from this man) who live through most of the same events as Coriolanus and simply make different choices.
It does run a little longer than needed (I don't think learning all the minutia of bird-trapping was all that vital, unless it was to draw another parallel to Katniss' hunting? STILL), and it does occasionally suffer from a bit of prequel-itis, such as some heavy-handed winks towards the future and certain in-your-face-"isn't-this-so-diabolical" moments, but I can't really fault Suzanne Collins for that, since people still! keep! missing! the point! (The next person to make a "Snow lands on top of me" thirst trap edit owes me 50$!!!!)
Overall I would recommend this book as a worthy installment in The Hunger Games series; at no point does it fall into villain apologism, and it has a lot to say about the complexity of privilege.
4.25/5 stars!
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Vomit and War
Minor: Addiction
eminent_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Xenophobia
captaindaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Coriolanus Snow can choke on himself and all my homies hate him.
Graphic: Child death, Violence, War, and Classism
Moderate: Eating disorder, Slavery, and Xenophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty and Vomit
def_ni'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
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Minor: Cannibalism
mconroy9137'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Deportation
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy
madanxiety's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse and Vomit
the_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: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
words_and_dreams'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
4.0
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.
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and War
kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism