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rickybug's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
swagnerrr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
The insight brought by this book really hit hard on my heart. Diving into complex characters and giving more to the story of an already loved series is amazing and worth every moment.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
4.0
Took me three false starts before I finally got into this because Snow is *that* unlikeable, but I was surprisingly engrossed by the end! I get why people hate this though - it’s slow, he’s such a whiney entitled narcissist, and you know he turns into basically the worst person alive. Hardly a morally grey villain you can sympathise with.
But I was surprised at how much there was packed into this. We get a bit of romance (though not a HEA, obviously), a Hunger Games, some District life, academy life (which I didn’t hate even though I hate that trope???), and a lot of political machination.
It was slow and draining in parts though, and Ms Collins this absolutely did not need to be so long!
Pumped to see the movie though - and the trailer is fully the reason why I bothered to pick this up again and give it a final shot.
But I was surprised at how much there was packed into this. We get a bit of romance (though not a HEA, obviously), a Hunger Games, some District life, academy life (which I didn’t hate even though I hate that trope???), and a lot of political machination.
It was slow and draining in parts though, and Ms Collins this absolutely did not need to be so long!
Pumped to see the movie though - and the trailer is fully the reason why I bothered to pick this up again and give it a final shot.
mysti_8l's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
3.5
crazy rushed at the end. i would have liked a lot more development with snow becoming evil. i do like how his true motive of survival was laced throughout the book though. like when lucy gray thought he killed mayfair for her even though it was for himself. honestly, this felt like a pretty good fanfiction. definitely not as good as the trilogy, but still an enjoyable read despite its flaws
scmilligan89's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
2.0
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
1.0
"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is unforgivably boring. It lacks the immediacy, rebellion, and passion of the original trilogy. I was intrigued in Snow's origin story because a villain origin story is so good, but this one was a massive letdown. It actually made him less interesting. He's just a sad privileged boy who thinks he deserves everything handed to him. Lucy Gray is one of the least dimensional characters I've ever read, and her songs were too frequent and made me cringe. I liked the origins of the mockingjay and the Arlo song and...that's it. This prequel added nothing to the universe for me, and if she writes anymore extensions to the trilogy, I probably won't read them. I'll stick to the original three.
annbanane's review against another edition
3.0
Really not sure what to think (although I have a lot of thoughts..!)
- some of the major pivots felt very jarring (like the way it was written made me think I should have predicted it/it should be believable but it felt so out of left field eg. consequence for his cheating)
- I appreciate the complexity of his character but sometimes it felt like his behaviour is too erratic to be believable (especially towards the end)
- LG really didn't need to be such a manic pixie dream girl (yes I understand we see her vulnerabilities.. but still)
- the entire romance was just.. kind of weird. Again, especially towards the end.
It seemed like things were building slowly during the first 2/3 of the book, and then the pace became frenetic. Maybe that was intentional?
Now I think I need to read the Hunger Games.
- some of the major pivots felt very jarring (like the way it was written made me think I should have predicted it/it should be believable but it felt so out of left field eg. consequence for his cheating)
- I appreciate the complexity of his character but sometimes it felt like his behaviour is too erratic to be believable (especially towards the end)
- LG really didn't need to be such a manic pixie dream girl (yes I understand we see her vulnerabilities.. but still)
- the entire romance was just.. kind of weird. Again, especially towards the end.
It seemed like things were building slowly during the first 2/3 of the book, and then the pace became frenetic. Maybe that was intentional?
Now I think I need to read the Hunger Games.
ayslinr's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
jodieorange's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0