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dontjudgeabrooke 's review for:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
by Suzanne Collins
Okay, Suzanne Collins has genuinely gotta be one of the most brilliant authors of our time. Right?
I didn't read this till now because I was put off by the poor ratings, and I only ended up reading it because I wanted to get to it before Sunrise on the Reaping. But now that I've read it, I'm genuinely confused by the copious one-star reviews. I listened to the audiobook read by Santino Fontana, so maybe that helped, but I think this is a really illuminating peek into the mind of a government fanatic who's not an outright nutcase (at least not at first) and the kind of pragmatic justifications he makes for his terrible views, especially as he descends further into manipulation/deceit/hypocrisy.
At his core, he has a fundamental lack of empathy. He can appreciate others when they're doing something for him or making him look good, but once they're no longer of use to him, he's totally indifferent to their existence. His ability to rationalize all his actions, no matter how heinous, is done so well that as the reader, you can understand why Coriolanus would see things the way he does.
And hey, Lucy Gray, wanna hang out sometime? I'm also musically talented, fun, and deeply empathetic, and I've also managed to wind up with almost exclusively horrific men — including a diabolical blond who acted like he loved me but didn't care if I lived or died so long as it didn't publicly reflect poorly on him. I could also totally see himhunting me down like an animal if I threatened to expose his true nature to the world .
In fact, Coriolanus reminded me so much of that person — both are dangerously self-serving, emotionally vacant beneath the polish, and quietly ruthless when cornered — that reading this book weirdly provided me with a sort of closure.
Quotes that spoke to me:
I didn't read this till now because I was put off by the poor ratings, and I only ended up reading it because I wanted to get to it before Sunrise on the Reaping. But now that I've read it, I'm genuinely confused by the copious one-star reviews. I listened to the audiobook read by Santino Fontana, so maybe that helped, but I think this is a really illuminating peek into the mind of a government fanatic who's not an outright nutcase (at least not at first) and the kind of pragmatic justifications he makes for his terrible views, especially as he descends further into manipulation/deceit/hypocrisy.
At his core, he has a fundamental lack of empathy. He can appreciate others when they're doing something for him or making him look good, but once they're no longer of use to him, he's totally indifferent to their existence. His ability to rationalize all his actions, no matter how heinous, is done so well that as the reader, you can understand why Coriolanus would see things the way he does.
And hey, Lucy Gray, wanna hang out sometime? I'm also musically talented, fun, and deeply empathetic, and I've also managed to wind up with almost exclusively horrific men — including a diabolical blond who acted like he loved me but didn't care if I lived or died so long as it didn't publicly reflect poorly on him. I could also totally see him
In fact, Coriolanus reminded me so much of that person — both are dangerously self-serving, emotionally vacant beneath the polish, and quietly ruthless when cornered — that reading this book weirdly provided me with a sort of closure.
Quotes that spoke to me:
- The Covey believe you’re put on earth to reduce the misery, not add to it.
- He bet he could have us both, me and Mayfair… Billy Taupe's always going on about how he's happiest alone, but what he really wants is some girl to take care of him. I guess Mayfair seemed a likely candidate for the job, so he went after her. No one can pour on the charm like Billy Taupe.
*Listened to audiobook