Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Balada șerpilor și a păsărilor cântătoare

I’m usually a big believer in reading the book before watching the movie adaptation, but this was a rare exception. I finally gave in and watched the movie on a long flight, but I actually ended up being grateful that I’d watched the movie first. After watching the film adaptation and then reading the book only a couple of weeks later, there were many moments when I realized that certain elements of the original book had been altered or even completely omitted from the movie version. Had I read the book when it first came out and then watched the movie later, I doubt I would have recognized as many of the differences. I personally enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between the original source material and the film adaptation, which also kept me actively engaged in the storyline and provided a sense of urgency to discover what might happen next every time I had to set the book aside. Certain elements of the book were definitely relatively dark and violently gruesome, which explains why some events were modified or removed in the film version, but this intense backstory helps to provide context for the seemingly heartless President Snow that later appears in The Hunger Games. I found the storyline to be extremely intriguing and enjoyed the dynamics between the various characters. I would highly recommend this book, especially to people who grew up loving the original Hunger Games series.

Content Warnings

yourlocalredpanda's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

moonworld3's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the reviews based on expectations for snow and tigris miss the point of the book … collins is clearly showing how a known villain, through both nurture and nature, came to be. there can’t be resolution in this book because we already know snow’s fate from the original trilogy. villains are always more interesting.

it’s strange to read this in a time when american politicians are financially and vocally supporting mass genocide of palestinian children (and humans, generally). what do their villain origin stories look like?

(-1 star for the first part dragging slightly, -1 star for lucy gray being a pick me — we get it girl, you aren’t capitol or district — throughout the story, +1 star for

lucy gray figuring snow out and sending a snake to bite him

)

Content Warnings

britwalsh16's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-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

3.0

I loved the hunger games trilogy, but this book about Snow, just wasn’t it for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well written and everything; but it’s just Snows character, we all know he’s a villain, but he spends the first 75% of the book pretending to be the good guy, & it just doesn’t fit him, it was driving me crazy! The book started out trying to paint him as a good guy. He’s not! Like Snow in this book doesn’t understand why they keep doing the hunger games, yet he’s the biggest supporter in the trilogy!! & he’s not a fan of the manipulations that come from those in power; but in the trilogy he’s the KING of manipulations. We’re supposed to believe it’s the same character, but it doesn’t feel like it, his personality is so diff. I love a good villain origin story, but this one seemed so far fetched. Atleast until the last quarter of the book where he finally started showing his true colors & became the heartless villain.
Maybe it’s just me cause Snow was never a villain I loved to hate. He was always on par with characters like Umbridge from Harry Potter. They don’t deserve redemption, & that’s what this book seemed to try to convey for most of the book atleast. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Content Warnings

elisalasater's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

nia_readsalot's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

marissaam12's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Was similar to the movie, and was still engrossed in the book despite knowing what will happen. Explains a lot about the character for the other books - Suzanne Collins is so smart

Content Warnings

More...