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A review by loveisabird
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i saw the movie first and while there’s much more in the book that fills the story out much better, there’s definitely some touches/changes from the movie i missed desperately here. coriolanus ripping out his own stitches. tigris’ last line about his father. YOU CAN KISS MY ASS!!!!!
but between the book and the movie together i think i’m even more taken in by this era of THG storyline than the original trilogy. don’t get me wrong i love the story of the final rebellion. but i also just adore worldbuilding and seeing the world of panem getting built, setting up the eventual rebellion, at this earlier point is entrancing to me. the way it recontextualizes things from the original trilogy that are already so provocative… the mockingjay, the hanging tree, the unnamed first district 12 victor, the traditions and spectacle of the hunger games… delicious.
also like. as much as i hate the bitch coriolanus was a more compelling narrator. then again maybe if katniss’ books weren’t in fucking first person i’d be more into her narration and inner world also.
finally lucy gray baird is the best character suzanne collins ever created and if you ask me she lived a long life in the woods. maybe not a happy one. but she survived that motherfucker i know it in my heart.
but between the book and the movie together i think i’m even more taken in by this era of THG storyline than the original trilogy. don’t get me wrong i love the story of the final rebellion. but i also just adore worldbuilding and seeing the world of panem getting built, setting up the eventual rebellion, at this earlier point is entrancing to me. the way it recontextualizes things from the original trilogy that are already so provocative… the mockingjay, the hanging tree, the unnamed first district 12 victor, the traditions and spectacle of the hunger games… delicious.
also like. as much as i hate the bitch coriolanus was a more compelling narrator. then again maybe if katniss’ books weren’t in fucking first person i’d be more into her narration and inner world also.
finally lucy gray baird is the best character suzanne collins ever created and if you ask me she lived a long life in the woods. maybe not a happy one. but she survived that motherfucker i know it in my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Child death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Child abuse
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Torture
Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts