Reviews

Ballada ptaków i węży by Suzanne Collins

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zuleykhaputri's review against another edition

3.0

all in all, im not saying it was as good as the hunger games series but it was still fun to read.

i really liked all the parallels from the hunger games in made the book more meaningful in my opinion.

i bet katniss reminded president snow of lucy gray so much. i never would've expected he's heard of rue's lullaby from lucy gray and now i know part of the reason why he wouldn't show that scene like he probably got major deja vu from katniss i mean the song the hanging tree??? no wonder that song was forbidden to sing and when i think about it its kinda sad that everything she has have somehow been invaded by the capitol like of all the things, the lake?? (i mean i know it wasn't confirmed that it was the same one but i think we can all agree it was). she cant even have that.

the irony of the quote "she could fly around district 12 all she liked, but she and her mockingjays could ever harm him again." its funny because in the end it actually did. i mean it did take 64 years but in the end it did.

im still curious though on what happened to lucy gray. i feel like she didn't die and resumed to her plan on running away. or the capitol captured her and killed her.

one of the things i liked is how coriolanus thought that lucy gray had a dark side to her because how she killed the other tributes and that she's not as innocent as she seems. but, really, she's just a girl who was forced in to the hunger games trying to survive.

sejanus. he knew from the very start that the capitol was bad news and he got killed for it by the guy who he considered his brother. he didn't deserve it.

lastly, coriolanus snow. he was a very complex character. he wanted peace and the way of the capitol is the only way he knows. at the end of the day, he was loyal, and only loyal to the capitol. not to some girl he was maybe in love with.

i really liked this book

sammichaan's review against another edition

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4.0

I listened to this on 2x speed to try and finish it before watching the movie, and I’m so glad I did. This look into Snow’s deranged mind was so fascinating, and it was very fun to be back in Panem after being such a fan back in middle school. The third act felt a bit rushed, but everything leading up to and in the Games was incredible. I hope that the success of this book and the movie inspires Collins to dive deeper into this universe and bring more books to the franchise, as I feel there is so much potential for interesting spin offs.

melissa_bookworm's review against another edition

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Not sure how to rate this.

I think it was interesting to see the history of the Hunger Games and the beginnings of concepts like mentors and sponsors in the 'modern' Games. But there was a lot that I think was a little contrived (eg, all the songs we know "Hanging Tree" and "Deep in the Meadow" are all created by Lucy Grey which seems unlikely?). Seems like a lot of fan-service? Corolainus doesn't seem 'bad' at core, perhaps a bit selfish), but he doesn't seem to have the shark-like cruelty of the President Snow we know.
Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

smiilefry's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved the first 3/4 of the book, but then I felt like the ending was rushed.

thesi3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad 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

3.75

hannahbenje's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

I thought this book was incredible! I know many people didn't like the slightly more philosophical nature of it, but it really helped build up Coriolanus's character well. This is the perfect setup prequel for the Hunger Games.

Content Warnings