smasson13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
At first I was confused as why it didn't end after act 2, and the start of act 3 felt like it was dragging on but not leading anywhere...but the end threw me. I think Suzanne Collins does a lovely jobs of trying to convince you of some sort of compassion in Coriolanus while he is struggling in the Capitol. Yet, by act 3, my hatred was renewed.
I would love to read more about the development of the early Hunger Games, I thought this was a really interesting perspective to take for a prequel novel.
As well, I know critics seemed not to enjoy the folk songs throughout the book, but I think they lend nicely to the story telling as well as the history of the area of the USA that District 12 apparently occupies.
Overall, it was a huge novel to get through, but never felt like a struggle. The tension and anticipation was high throughout, though at times frustrating. Definitely recommend it for those who have read the original series, it did not take away from what has already been created.
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Animal death
Minor: Confinement, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Death of parent
raeb's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Classism, Medical content, Police brutality, and War
Moderate: Gore, Torture, and Dementia
lilybisliterate's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Toxic friendship, and Torture
Minor: Drug abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, and Drug use
rennybenny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Torture, and Murder
midnightgremlin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: War, Violence, Torture, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cannibalism, Animal death, and Addiction
studydniowka's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Grief, Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
meghanelizabeth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Child death, War, and Blood
Moderate: Police brutality, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Cannibalism, Violence, Gun violence, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Alcohol, and Torture
hannahbailey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was great to be back in Panem again-I've missed it! I'm aware how unhinged that sounds given the horrendous TWs I've listed above. But it's YA! And its Panem, a place we know is not famous for its kindness and generosity towards children.
So it was interesting to see Panem from the perspectives of Capitol citizens, however the perspective is limited through Coriolanus' gaze...make of that what you will 🥸 The POV was not quite a revelatory as I'd hoped it would be. Although, as with everything Suzanne Collins writes, I'm now thinking maybe this was intentional. There's no big reveal, we go to war and we fight and we kill each other because that's what humans do. There's no deeper message to be understood or secret to be discovered. Dammit Suzanne, you got me again! We have to stan.
I of course enjoyed the Hunger Games part, how could I not?! But the rest was overly long and stretched out. I didn't feel like we were given anything new, especially as District 12 was featured again over other districts. I wanted a lot more from Snow than I was given too. In every aspect of the novel and THG world, I'm itching to know more. Maybe one day we'll get the Finnick and Joanna novellas we deserve!
I know it's cringe and cliche but I want nothing more than for the movie adaptation to end with a close up of young Snow's face slowly morphing into old Snow's face either during his most evil in Catching Fire or at the end of Mockingjay when he *redacted*. The satisfaction would be too much to bear!
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal cruelty, Gore, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, and Grief
tahsintries's review
3.5
Graphic: War, Murder, and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Medical content, and Torture
astroluminous's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Spoiler
”A veces, Coriolanus se preguntaba si los dejaban allí para recordarles a los ciudadanos lo que había sufrido. La gente tenía muy mala memoria. Es necesario esquivaran escombros, que arrancaran los mugrientos cupones de racionamiento y asistieran a los Juegos del Hambre para mantener la guerra viva en su recuerdo. El olvido daba lugar al exceso de confianza, y entonces volverían todos a la casilla de salida.”Acabo de terminar este libro y tengo demasiados pensamientos encontrados.
En primer lugar, si bien lo menos relevante, es momento de mencionar que, gracias a este libro, pude romper una racha de bloqueo lector de más de cinco años, que me dejaron con ganas incluso de más. La calidad de Suzanne se mantuvo prácticamente igual que en la trilogía principal, haciéndome hablarle a las páginas como si me pudieran responder. Es más que seguro que, apenas pueda hacerme de una copia de dichos libros, la pienso releer.
La propuesta de un Snow enamorado, hablando mal y rápido, me hizo mierda. Yo tenía en mente a este personaje como un ser despiadado y sin alma, pero saber que alguien fue capaz de hacerle sentir algo. . . me hizo chillar más de una vez. Lucy Gray me sacó de mi zona de confort de lo que esperaba de un tributo, y saber que lo que a los 75 años de la guerra conocemos como juegos sean en gran medida resultado de Snow incluso me hace más sentido de lo que esperaba.
Sin embargo, la tercera parte del libro hizo que, de no haberme enganchado desde el primer momento, serían dos o tres estrellas en lugar de cuatro. Entre la vuelta de los acontecimientos como el abrupto final, siento que fue un meh.
Spoiler
En un momento teníamos un Snow enamorado que pensaba aceptar una vida en el doce como agente de la paz con tal de estar de Lucy Gray a escaparse de ella. Me hubiera gustado que se vaya con ella, que hubiera pasado una temporada en la intemperie, una narración en trilogía en lugar de generar un clímax un tanto apresurado.Spoiler
¿Y si no traicionada a Sejanus así? ¿Y si Sejanus hubiera llevado a cabo su plan sin que siquiera Snow se hubiera dado cuenta para así fallecer en ese plan? ¿Y si Lucy Gray hubiera fallecido allí, en ese atentado al campo de entrenamiento?Entiendo que los Snow siempre caen de pie, pero no creo que tendrían que haber conseguido todo. . . no así. El epílogo se siente vacío, nombrando todo lo que le salió bien a la familia de las rosas. Espero una segunda parte, porque lo siento como un inicio de una nueva etapa de la saga, no solo un libro auto-concluyente. Porque, de haber sido solamente eso, hubiera quedado completamente inútil; porque cuando leí los planes que él tenía para un futuro, cómo ocurre todo al final. . . se sintió como un producto sacado de Wattpad, en el cual la escritora se queda sin idea/ganas a medio terminar y solamente se apura porque tiene un público atrás pidiendo en comentarios que dé mas contenido. Es más, de no tratarse de Suzanne Collins (y sabiendo que mi juicio no es completamente objetivo con ella), podría mencionar muchísimas notas respecto a la relación de los dos protagonistas, y todo lo que se podría haber cambiado para mejor respecto a sus interacciones en caso de que se hubieran querido realmente, y no se hubiera utilizado mutuamente. Porque, en defensa de nuestro pobre Snow, ella también se estuvo aprovechando de él de la misma manera, principalmente en la última parte del libro.
Pero bueno, quitando los detalles de los personajes individuales, agradezco completamente que hayan ampliado un poco más el universo construido detrás de los juegos, y de Panem en general. Ahora solo pido que no me dejen con las ganas de saber más sobre como pasamos de tener a los tributos muriendo de hambre a tener todo un negocio a su alrededor, más allá de los detalles que Snow generó en este libro.
PD. Si Snow pudo tener un libro, ¿para cuándo más contenido de Finnick?
PD2.
Spoiler
Si Sejanus no hubiera aparecido en el distrito, apuesto lo que sea a que Snow se quedaba allí con la cantante, y eso hubiera audio hasta poético. Irónico pensar que el pobre deseaba apoyar a la rebelión terminó forjando al peor enemigo de los distritos.Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, and Child death
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism