Take a photo of a barcode or cover
blindmanbaldwin 's review for:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
by Suzanne Collins
Interesting hook to this one — one of my Tumblr mutuals compared it to noir except the POV character is the femme fatale (or in this case...masc fatale?) — where Snow charms this girl into his plan for ambition. The conflict within propels it well. Snow starts out fostering a relationship with his tribute, Lucy Gray, just to win the game but eventually has his humanity take hold and actually falls for her. In the end, as written from the start, he severs her (and with it his chance at humanity) and chooses ambition.
By virtue of the POV, we're pulled out of the arena and exist in the role of voyeur. A shift from the first three books but one that works in tandem with the points on the power of media. A lot of entry-level political philosophy arguments here, which is fine given the target audience for the book. Social contract, rejection of Enlightenment ideals in this Hobbesian world, power of violence. The powerful people think we're all inherently crooked and they have to control us, but the truth is the powerful are the real crooks and the rest of us are able to let go.
It's fine, safe and fine. Prequel boxes it in.
By virtue of the POV, we're pulled out of the arena and exist in the role of voyeur. A shift from the first three books but one that works in tandem with the points on the power of media. A lot of entry-level political philosophy arguments here, which is fine given the target audience for the book. Social contract, rejection of Enlightenment ideals in this Hobbesian world, power of violence. The powerful people think we're all inherently crooked and they have to control us, but the truth is the powerful are the real crooks and the rest of us are able to let go.
It's fine, safe and fine. Prequel boxes it in.