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A review by moonchildmelancholia
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
dark
fast-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
Okay what. The hell. Was that. I’m putting everything in spoilers bc I’m pretty sure this will just be incoherent rambling. My thoughts about this are all over the place lol (very long, open at your own risk lol)
The first half of the book was so great. I was sooo invested the whole time and was immediately immersed in the world of Coriolanus.
With the background of knowing what kind of person he will turn out to be and where he will end up in about half a decade, throughout the whole book there's this knowing of the "good" side never really quite getting through to him. At moments, there is hope he will see the world more like Lucy Gray, but then they have these conversations where it becomes clear they'd just never work out.
Okay but Lucy Gray. I love her. I also love how the Covey get their names :(( like first name from a ballad and second name a colour? Very cool. Anyway Lucy Gray was really cool and I'm so excited to hear how the music will sound in the film. I also never expected oh my darling clementine to be in this.
During the Hunger Games, I honestly had my doubts of Lucy Gray surviving them. I also thought they would keep going for a longer time and when they were over just like that about halfway through the book, I had no idea where this was going. Also, her win kinda seemed way too easy. How the last people died and all. But oh well.
What I didn't really like was how the book progressed from that point on. Him just being demoted to being a Peacekeeper? It just didn't make sense to me, honestly and all that was before was just so much more engaging. How the whole story unfolded was hmmm yeah idk how to feel about it, but it kept me engaged all the way through because I genuinely didn't know how it would end. I definitely thought Lucy Gray would die, so the end made me disappointed at first. But i actually kinda like it and how it ties in with the ballad of Lucy Gray. I just hope she's well lol
It was also so nice to see how in the end, Coriolanus went a bit mad in the woods? How it took so little to make him think Lucy Gray betrayed him. He's a pretty unstable dude lmao. It's very intriguiging to think about him being an unreliable narrator and all, that we're not supposed to root for him(probably, I'm not a literature expert pahahhaa) which mostly succeeded with me. The whole time I just rooted for Lucy Gray being able to escape the whole madness and I guess it kinda worked out in the end.
OK BUT Dr. Gaul sending Coriolanus on a "vacation" resulting in multiple people dying, him going slightly mad and all just to give him an experience to remember made my jaw drop, ngl.
One last thought: I love how, in the epilogue, he's only addressed as Snow. I feel like it's probably showing how he's finally become more like the version of himself we see in the actual trilogy.
I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a wild ride.
With the background of knowing what kind of person he will turn out to be and where he will end up in about half a decade, throughout the whole book there's this knowing of the "good" side never really quite getting through to him. At moments, there is hope he will see the world more like Lucy Gray, but then they have these conversations where it becomes clear they'd just never work out.
Okay but Lucy Gray. I love her. I also love how the Covey get their names :(( like first name from a ballad and second name a colour? Very cool. Anyway Lucy Gray was really cool and I'm so excited to hear how the music will sound in the film. I also never expected oh my darling clementine to be in this.
During the Hunger Games, I honestly had my doubts of Lucy Gray surviving them. I also thought they would keep going for a longer time and when they were over just like that about halfway through the book, I had no idea where this was going. Also, her win kinda seemed way too easy. How the last people died and all. But oh well.
What I didn't really like was how the book progressed from that point on. Him just being demoted to being a Peacekeeper? It just didn't make sense to me, honestly and all that was before was just so much more engaging. How the whole story unfolded was hmmm yeah idk how to feel about it, but it kept me engaged all the way through because I genuinely didn't know how it would end. I definitely thought Lucy Gray would die, so the end made me disappointed at first. But i actually kinda like it and how it ties in with the ballad of Lucy Gray. I just hope she's well lol
It was also so nice to see how in the end, Coriolanus went a bit mad in the woods? How it took so little to make him think Lucy Gray betrayed him. He's a pretty unstable dude lmao. It's very intriguiging to think about him being an unreliable narrator and all, that we're not supposed to root for him(probably, I'm not a literature expert pahahhaa) which mostly succeeded with me. The whole time I just rooted for Lucy Gray being able to escape the whole madness and I guess it kinda worked out in the end.
OK BUT Dr. Gaul sending Coriolanus on a "vacation" resulting in multiple people dying, him going slightly mad and all just to give him an experience to remember made my jaw drop, ngl.
One last thought: I love how, in the epilogue, he's only addressed as Snow. I feel like it's probably showing how he's finally become more like the version of himself we see in the actual trilogy.
I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a wild ride.