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freshie's review against another edition
4.0
Clunky at some times (mainly the latter half of the hunger games and the finale of the book) but a fun read! Brings back memories of childhood and this is a ya novel so I’m willing to excuse some of the overhanded themes (looking at you use of food as a representation of social status) and other writing more gear towards a younger audience. :)
pagecaitt's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“He was glad about the erasure. It was just one more way to eliminate Lucy Gray from the world. The Capitol would forget her, the districts barely knew her, and District 12 had never accepted her as one of their own. In a few years there would be a vague memory that a girl had once sung in the arena. And then that would be forgotten, too. Good-bye, Lucy Gray, we hardly knew you.”
Okay. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews but I have to say, I absolutely loved that book. So many things mentioned correlated with the later books and it was a lot of fun spotting all the hidden details. For one thing, I really like that we now have a backstory to the Hanging Tree song - it’s so interesting getting to know what each verse is about - v1 being about Arlo and Lil’ “where a dead man called out for his love to flee” meaning the mockingjays leaving Arlo’s last words of “Run! Run Lil’! Ru-!” ringing in the air as his body falls to the ground - v2 being about Lucy Gray and Coriolanus meeting up to desert the districts and the Capitol and run away together “where I told you to run so we would both be free”.
And then there’s the whole song being about Lucy Gray and her ex lover.
Then, of course, the song becomes a symbol of rebellion in the last book of the trilogy, where Katniss sings it and it is broadcasted to Panem. Can you imagine Snow’s reaction hearing that? Bringing back all these long suppressed memories of a girl he had once “loved” and almost run away with?
Poetic, really, how “his” song eventually comes full circle and is trademarked by the rebels.
Another thing I really love is the ballad Lucy Gray is named after. It foreshadows her entire ending, her future. It tells a story of a girl named Lucy Gray running into the wilderness, only to vanish into the snow and never be seen again. It’s a complete mystery what happens to her and is never found out. Just like the ending of the character; Lucy Gray’s own story.
I do wish we could have known more about what ended up of Lucy Gray but her mysterious end is also open to a lot of intrigue. I greatly like the idea of her being Katniss Everdeen’s great grandmother, but I think it was dismissed by Suzanne Collins.
I have seen people say that the main character of this book is unlikable. And, honestly, what do you expect? The main character is literally President Snow. I actually found his dissent into insanity intriguing to watch. In the start of the book he seems like any normal guy his age, maybe with a bit of an ego and far more proud of his last name than he should be, but towards the end (particularly in his last moments in the woods with Lucy Gray) he has entered a flat out spiral into madness. And even by the end of the book, in the epilogue, the name Coriolanus has completely been erased and he is only referred to as Snow, solidifying the complete disconnection to the boy we might have known. Fully erasing any lasting connections he might have with Lucy Gray. “She could fly around District 12 all she liked, but he and her mockingjays could never harm him again”.
Truthfully, Coriolanus never loved Lucy Gray. It becomes more and more apparent towards the end that what he really liked was being able to control her, to say she “belonged to him”, but when he realises he can never fully control her he loses it completely and ends up hunting her down in the woods.
It’s clear, particularly when he becomes a Peacekeeper, that Coriolanus loves control. He latches onto it and seems unable to function when it is not there. It is his main drive for continuing the Hunger Games, he even adds further layers of control to it; “you need to somehow make the viewing mandatory” and creates ways that will encourage districts to want to take part. Without him, the Hunger Games would have definitely died out as no one particularly liked them beforehand. He made them into the spectacle they are when we see Katniss join.
In addition, he even goes as far as to marry someone he doesn’t like all that much, to ensure he will not fall for her like he fell for Lucy Gray. Control.
Coriolanus killed 4 people in this book, and by the end he seemed to do it for pure pleasure. He is an intensely twisted character, extremely interesting to analyse. Everything he did seemed to be about him, all for his own gain, not worrying about others. Even in thoughts of Lucy Gray being tortured and Sejanus being hung (two of the people he was closest to), all he cared about was whether they gave him up, whether his future was ruined.
After returning from the woods in which he hunted Lucy Gray for reasons we can never know truth (nothing he says can be trusted, his mind is so warped that even in murdering people he continues to convince himself that it was all in self defence and he was in the right), he dumps his mother’s compact and photos of himself and friends/family into the bin, only retaining his father’s compass. Everything that ever made Coriolanus human, ever made him a good person, chucked away and the one thing that remained belonged to the man who brought the Hunger Games into existence. Poetic, really.
I fully enjoyed this book and I really think it’s worth reading after the original trilogy as there are so many details in this book connecting the two that are a lot of fun to catch.
I cannot wait for her next book, “Sunrise on the Reaping”!!
Okay. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews but I have to say, I absolutely loved that book. So many things mentioned correlated with the later books and it was a lot of fun spotting all the hidden details. For one thing, I really like that we now have a backstory to the Hanging Tree song - it’s so interesting getting to know what each verse is about - v1 being about Arlo and Lil’ “where a dead man called out for his love to flee” meaning the mockingjays leaving Arlo’s last words of “Run! Run Lil’! Ru-!” ringing in the air as his body falls to the ground - v2 being about Lucy Gray and Coriolanus meeting up to desert the districts and the Capitol and run away together “where I told you to run so we would both be free”.
And then there’s the whole song being about Lucy Gray and her ex lover.
Then, of course, the song becomes a symbol of rebellion in the last book of the trilogy, where Katniss sings it and it is broadcasted to Panem. Can you imagine Snow’s reaction hearing that? Bringing back all these long suppressed memories of a girl he had once “loved” and almost run away with?
Poetic, really, how “his” song eventually comes full circle and is trademarked by the rebels.
Another thing I really love is the ballad Lucy Gray is named after. It foreshadows her entire ending, her future. It tells a story of a girl named Lucy Gray running into the wilderness, only to vanish into the snow and never be seen again. It’s a complete mystery what happens to her and is never found out. Just like the ending of the character; Lucy Gray’s own story.
I do wish we could have known more about what ended up of Lucy Gray but her mysterious end is also open to a lot of intrigue. I greatly like the idea of her being Katniss Everdeen’s great grandmother, but I think it was dismissed by Suzanne Collins.
I have seen people say that the main character of this book is unlikable. And, honestly, what do you expect? The main character is literally President Snow. I actually found his dissent into insanity intriguing to watch. In the start of the book he seems like any normal guy his age, maybe with a bit of an ego and far more proud of his last name than he should be, but towards the end (particularly in his last moments in the woods with Lucy Gray) he has entered a flat out spiral into madness. And even by the end of the book, in the epilogue, the name Coriolanus has completely been erased and he is only referred to as Snow, solidifying the complete disconnection to the boy we might have known. Fully erasing any lasting connections he might have with Lucy Gray. “She could fly around District 12 all she liked, but he and her mockingjays could never harm him again”.
Truthfully, Coriolanus never loved Lucy Gray. It becomes more and more apparent towards the end that what he really liked was being able to control her, to say she “belonged to him”, but when he realises he can never fully control her he loses it completely and ends up hunting her down in the woods.
It’s clear, particularly when he becomes a Peacekeeper, that Coriolanus loves control. He latches onto it and seems unable to function when it is not there. It is his main drive for continuing the Hunger Games, he even adds further layers of control to it; “you need to somehow make the viewing mandatory” and creates ways that will encourage districts to want to take part. Without him, the Hunger Games would have definitely died out as no one particularly liked them beforehand. He made them into the spectacle they are when we see Katniss join.
In addition, he even goes as far as to marry someone he doesn’t like all that much, to ensure he will not fall for her like he fell for Lucy Gray. Control.
Coriolanus killed 4 people in this book, and by the end he seemed to do it for pure pleasure. He is an intensely twisted character, extremely interesting to analyse. Everything he did seemed to be about him, all for his own gain, not worrying about others. Even in thoughts of Lucy Gray being tortured and Sejanus being hung (two of the people he was closest to), all he cared about was whether they gave him up, whether his future was ruined.
After returning from the woods in which he hunted Lucy Gray for reasons we can never know truth (nothing he says can be trusted, his mind is so warped that even in murdering people he continues to convince himself that it was all in self defence and he was in the right), he dumps his mother’s compact and photos of himself and friends/family into the bin, only retaining his father’s compass. Everything that ever made Coriolanus human, ever made him a good person, chucked away and the one thing that remained belonged to the man who brought the Hunger Games into existence. Poetic, really.
I fully enjoyed this book and I really think it’s worth reading after the original trilogy as there are so many details in this book connecting the two that are a lot of fun to catch.
I cannot wait for her next book, “Sunrise on the Reaping”!!
jaeeelow's review against another edition
2.0
2.5⭐
But not because it's a bad book just because the character from wich pov it was annoyed the fuck Out of me. I dislike him so much omg he's SO annoying I can't
But not because it's a bad book just because the character from wich pov it was annoyed the fuck Out of me. I dislike him so much omg he's SO annoying I can't
laurenlee2158's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
cbattle521's review against another edition
1.0
I am shocked by how awful this book is considering how amazing the Hunger Games series is. It was super boring with very little suspense or romance. If Snow was supposed to be likeable and make us understand how he became who he became then this book miserably failed. He whined through most of it and the rest he was self centered. It’s so strange to read about a horrible villain in a series you loved and then try to see his perspective. I thought maybe there would be an ethical spin to it like a huge catalyst to him being hateful and wanting to be president…but nope just cold hearted, entitled, selfish, (cabbage hating:)) Snow from beginning to end. The romance with Lucy was strange too. “Oh I like her” to “she’s probably going to die tomorrow oh well” it’s such a strange dialogue between them with occasional random meaningless kissing. After the hunger games they see each other and act like old friends with no traumatic history between them. No PTSD, no trauma processing with each other?” He must not have liked her too much because he didn’t seem bothered that he likely killed her. It’s such a disjointed, disconnected, awkward, boring book!!
Edited to add that I really enjoyed the movie of this book! I think it captured his origin villain story way better than the book!
Edited to add that I really enjoyed the movie of this book! I think it captured his origin villain story way better than the book!
kathom21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
I was worried when I first started listening that this was going to be a Coriolanus Snow origin story that was "he's really not so bad" and trying to make him a sympathetic character.
I should have trusted my girl Suzanne.
I don't think it hit quite like the original trilogy, but it was still pretty excellent.
I was listening on audiobook and those last few chapter, specifically 30, had me with my jaw on the ground.
I should have trusted my girl Suzanne.
I don't think it hit quite like the original trilogy, but it was still pretty excellent.
I was listening on audiobook and those last few chapter, specifically 30, had me with my jaw on the ground.
lillinothnagel99's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
firebrand88's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
monimo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-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
4.75