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vi_holmes'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
1.5
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an apparent attempt at a villain origin story for President Snow. But it fails miserably. There's no moment or change in his character to explain how he became the evil president in the original series. In fact, there's no change to his character, period. He is a self-absorbed, arrogant prat from beginning to end. There's no character arc whatsoever. There's not even Snow being evil in a fun way from the beginning. He's just an annoying elitist. That's it. After 500 pages...
All the other characters are just as hollow and one note as well. Even the love interest, Lucy Gray, that I assume was written to try to humanize Snow (it didn't), has absolutely no personality outside of her songs (which are mostly pointless wastes of pages) and being Appalachian-coded. She's really just a plot device and not a good one. Which is really a waste. If this book was told through her eyes like the trilogy did with Katniss, I think it would have been had so much more life and would have made much more sense as to why it was written in the first place. As it is, the little bit of her being the explanation behind The Hanging Tree and her involvement with Snow feels like an afterthought. I didn't root for them to be together at any point in the story because Snow treated her like a possession, not a person he was in love with.
I won't spoil anything about Sejanus's part in the story, but even he is the same character from beginning to end (though he is the closest one to having any sort of character arc). He's supposed to be the voice of the districts, but he just comes off as a reckless, loose canon that never thinks through his decisions.
I will say though that learning a bit of background for Tigris in the beginning was interesting even as it felt like such a random characters from the trilogy to give such thoughtout lore to. And when the Games first kick off, it did pick up and it was interesting to see the Games from the outside perspective. But even while the tributes were still in the arena it started to drop off again and got pretty repetitive. But those couple chapters and Tigris' background and Dr. Gaul, whom I found to be a fun villain at times, is why I'm giving this book 1.5 instead of 1 star.
Overall, I know I would have ended up reading it eventually out of curiosity, but I really hope the movie is better. I loved the original trilogy so much. I lost count of how many times I read them. This was such a let down.
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
aely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, War, Child death, Death, Classism, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Medical content, and Confinement
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Vomit, Drug use, Animal death, and Drug abuse
callie_castle'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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Body horror, Drug abuse, Violence, Drug use, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, War, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Classism, and Death of parent
halaagmod'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Gun violence, War, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cannibalism and Death of parent
myaraisin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Bullying, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Child abuse, Classism, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Grief
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Classism, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, Misogyny, and Addiction
Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Excrement, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Confinement, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcoholism
ironseaweed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Alcohol, Death, and Cannibalism
Don’t read if you don’t have a strong stomach!!!eguare's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Gore, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Death, Classism, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction
Minor: Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
autumnk3lly's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Addiction and Body horror
Minor: Cannibalism and Suicidal thoughts
elspethmigliore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
i cannot get over how they ended. what incredible revenge they had on each other. and i genuinely cannot get over how perfectly this sets up for the trilogy.
it’s so eerie to know how in control the capitol is with every situation, but it makes for an even more satisfying end when it comes to the later trilogy. lucy sets up for katniss’s character perfectly.
also, i know when i watch the movie im gonna ship them so hard bc tom blyth is so hot, but i still stand by what i said.
✅ ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WILL BE REREADING THIS WAS INSANE
Graphic: Medical content, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Classism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Murder, Drug use, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Medical trauma, War, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse