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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
i would give this three and a half stars if i could, but alas! i enjoyed this quite a lot, but i did have a few problems here and there. lucy gray does feel very much like a manic pixie dream girl character with her charming and mysterious demeanour and i really wish that we could have seen more depth to her. it was a fun read though :)
i’m not gonna write a full review BUT i think this book was good! not great, but good. it was definitely too long. the pacing was extremely varied and all over the place and the plot was... not really a plot? it was just Coriolanus going from one place to another and watching things happen, up until the very end which felt very rushed. i also felt the philosophical themes could have been a bit more subtle. other than that it was enjoyable! the character of coryolanus was so arrogant and jealous that i had fun making fun of him. also the fact that katniss is most likely a decendant of one of the Covey made me smile because she basically fucking kills him. so that’s very nice :)
this was so so rambly oh god
this was so so rambly oh god
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
didnt quite have the same emotional oomph as the other three books, maybe bc its from the perspective of the capitol rather than a district, but it was interesting to read a hg book with a different writing style and it was great to get some bg lore bc DAMN
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Questions were answered, understanding was delivered. Phew!
I really enjoyed the first half; learning about Snow, seeing how different he was, his connection to Tigress, seeing him actually care for Lucy, and hints of his ruthless thoughts appear more & more throughout the book.
For whatever reason, I started growing bored halfway. Maybe it was the other tributes- I didn't care about them whatsoever. The Hunger Games competition itself (not the behind the scenes work, because that was interesting) was the least engaging of all the ones in the series. I likely won't be able to remember anyone except for Lucy & Marcus in a few months. That specific portion wasn't done well enough to be memorable for me.
Snow's dull time straight after was also not the most interesting other than the thrilling moments with Sejanus Plinth. Now that's a multifaceted character that we lacked in the actual game field! I constantly felt bad for Sejanus but damn he was dumb at times.
The last one-fifth of the book though? Great! It redeemed the book from the dull middle:
Lucy Gray's realisation & choice at end, Snow truly reaching his full delusional paranoia that was lurking under the surface from the start, Gaul's master plan, the rat poison Snow used to drop a certain body!
The relief! That was a good end, but not perfection. I would've liked to witness the actual climb to the moment of presidency too in the epilogue, but alas, for some odd reason that was left out and apparently not part of the point of why so many of us tuned into this book.
I really enjoyed the first half; learning about Snow, seeing how different he was, his connection to Tigress, seeing him actually care for Lucy, and hints of his ruthless thoughts appear more & more throughout the book.
For whatever reason, I started growing bored halfway. Maybe it was the other tributes- I didn't care about them whatsoever. The Hunger Games competition itself (not the behind the scenes work, because that was interesting) was the least engaging of all the ones in the series. I likely won't be able to remember anyone except for Lucy & Marcus in a few months. That specific portion wasn't done well enough to be memorable for me.
Snow's dull time straight after was also not the most interesting other than the thrilling moments with Sejanus Plinth. Now that's a multifaceted character that we lacked in the actual game field! I constantly felt bad for Sejanus but damn he was dumb at times.
The last one-fifth of the book though? Great! It redeemed the book from the dull middle:
Lucy Gray's realisation & choice at end, Snow truly reaching his full delusional paranoia that was lurking under the surface from the start, Gaul's master plan, the rat poison Snow used to drop a certain body!
The relief! That was a good end, but not perfection. I would've liked to witness the actual climb to the moment of presidency too in the epilogue, but alas, for some odd reason that was left out and apparently not part of the point of why so many of us tuned into this book.
medium-paced
Where the Hunger Games trilogy was a taut, YA dystopian thriller, Ballad is more like its adult cousin. Not everyone will like it for the simple reason that it doesn’t feel like a Hunger Games book. The narrative is much slower and far more literary, with a laser focus on the development of the original trilogy’s detestable villain, President Snow.
But Collins weaves magic by building empathy for young Snow, while simultaneously moving him like a chess piece through unimaginable ethical and emotional strain. His descent into the character from the original trilogy seems natural, and stands in stark contrast to his belief that nature is chaos, and the Capitol is order. The journey is a long one, and occasionally feels like a slog through too much inner turmoil and doubt, but ultimately Collins has created a brilliant character tapestry.
The book is rife with evocative philosophy, and Collins handles Snow not as an intrinsically evil character, but one who devolves in morality in his own quest for power. In essence, the boy creates the man. Snow is both a product of his world and his own need to prove himself, a perfect balance of nature and nurture. The complexity of such a character would daunt most writers, but Collins approaches it with such care and devotion that for awhile we even see ourselves in Snow. I may have even been rooting for him for awhile.
Again, not everyone will like this, but from a literary standpoint, it’s pretty damn good.
But Collins weaves magic by building empathy for young Snow, while simultaneously moving him like a chess piece through unimaginable ethical and emotional strain. His descent into the character from the original trilogy seems natural, and stands in stark contrast to his belief that nature is chaos, and the Capitol is order. The journey is a long one, and occasionally feels like a slog through too much inner turmoil and doubt, but ultimately Collins has created a brilliant character tapestry.
The book is rife with evocative philosophy, and Collins handles Snow not as an intrinsically evil character, but one who devolves in morality in his own quest for power. In essence, the boy creates the man. Snow is both a product of his world and his own need to prove himself, a perfect balance of nature and nurture. The complexity of such a character would daunt most writers, but Collins approaches it with such care and devotion that for awhile we even see ourselves in Snow. I may have even been rooting for him for awhile.
Again, not everyone will like this, but from a literary standpoint, it’s pretty damn good.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
There's a reason why The Hunger Games is one of my all time favourite book series.
Give them a go and see what you think about the world we live in when you're done.
Give them a go and see what you think about the world we live in when you're done.
TOOK ME SO LONG TO FINISHHHH.
tbh i only read it bc the movie’s coming out soon. otherwise i’d probably never read it. it’s quite boring. but i’d read anything the hunger games related no matter how boring they are.
tbh i only read it bc the movie’s coming out soon. otherwise i’d probably never read it. it’s quite boring. but i’d read anything the hunger games related no matter how boring they are.