kt2e56'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
3.0
t seems like Collins had to go back on quite a bit in order to make this narrative fit in with what she already told us in the original trilogy.
I’d say that some other issues with this book are that most of the characters are just…flat. Dr. Gaul with her ridiculous nursery rhymes is too cartoonish of a villain, Lucy Gray is a manic pixie dream girl (which on the one hand makes sense because we’re seeing her from Snow’s POV, but that doesn’t make her any less grating), the rest of the Covey and their weird country bumpkin way of life are equally as grating and Snow himself has zero shades of gray. He’s awful all the way through (I’ll get back to this).
The most interesting characters by far are Sejanus Plinth and Dean Highbottom, both of whom I kind of wish had been the POV characters for this prequel.
BUT I will say that in terms of politics and big picture ideas, this book is way more ambitious than the original trilogy. Yes, Snow is a bit one note but I *do* actually appreciate that. He’s a fascist, point blank. He’s an elitist bigot whose family has fallen on hard luck but we don’t ever have to feel sympathy for him because he STILL clings to that bigotry even though it’s glaringly obvious that The Capitol is to blame for his family’s trauma. It’s also VERY interesting that Collins doesn’t even attempt to hide the links between fascism and misogyny.
Spoiler
Let’s talk real world for a second and how commonplace it is for alt-right young men to be drawn to their worldviews because of an innate sense of entitlement not only with wealth and the economy but with women as well. A big part of fascism is controlling women. It’s never a surprise when an alt-right extremist has a history of domestic violence. Never.And Collins making it abundantly obvious that Coriolanus doesn’t truly LOVE Lucy Gray but seeks to own and possess her is actually really great. There’s no love story here. We know Lucy Gray is doomed from the moment she’s in his clutches. He wouldn’t have done ANYTHING for her if he didn’t want to fuck her so badly tbh. This was so obviously going to end one way and I’m glad that Collins didn’t chicken out and went for it and avoided giving him a change of heart although I wish she wasn’t so ambiguous with it.
The ending as a whole was another issue for me. It felt a bit rushed and convoluted and I wish Snow’s meeting with Highbottom was stretched out just a little more as opposed to stuffed into the epilogue.
All in all though, this was a solid read and I’m sure I’ll be seeing the movie in the Fall. I’m curious if Collins will be expanding even further on this world or not…
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Misogyny, Police brutality, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Mental illness, Addiction, and Medical content
fran_buesa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Hate crime, Murder, Death, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Body horror
cdoubet's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, and Dementia
laineydunne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and War
chlorai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, and Gun violence
rae42's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Vomit
Kinda hate that it's humanising characters which later do horrible things in the original trilogyjjpope's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment
holdencaulfield's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Death
Minor: Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Blood, Cursing, and Bullying
mscalls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Cannibalism
powellki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Find the full review at A Bibliotaph's Reviews.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic relationship