Look, nobody can blame you for missing it. There's been a lot going on lately. But don't worry - I've got you covered. Here's what I thought of the latest addition to the Hunger Games franchise...spoilers ahead.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins
For the uninitiated reader, I’m not sure how successful this book would be. It’s a little longer than I felt it needed to be, and its relatively ambiguous ending might leave some frustrated. But if you’ve read the original books and/or seen the movies, this might be worth it. It’s not often that I read a story told from the villain’s perspective, and this narrative is filled with moments that remind you how different you are from its protagonist. That said, I was really intrigued by the writing style when it came to the way Snow spoke. Collins told us what Snow said to different characters, but she also explained very succinctly why he said the things that he said. He’s a very political/manipulative speaker, and ironically I found that part of the story very relatable. I like to think that I’m generally careful with the words I use and that I’m mindful of how I should speak and sound to certain audiences, but Snow takes this to the next level by constantly looking for ways to worm his way into a better situation than the one he’s currently in. There’s parts of his character that are still redeemable in the first half of the book, but the further you go along, the further Snow falls into himself. That aspect of the book was really intriguing.
The relationship between Snow and Lucy Gray was one that really had me on my toes for much of the story. As they went through the Hunger Games together, it seemed to me like Snow was reading into their connection a lot more heavily than she was. My hunch turned out to be incorrect when they finally reconnected, but even then their ideological differences kept coming up as a reminder that these two were not destined to be together. What frustrated me as a reader was that there was no real climactic confrontation between the two of them. We didn’t get a big moment where Snow revealed his true self to her and it all came crashing down – instead, Snow kind of just went crazy and ran off. It made sense narratively, but I would’ve liked to see the other side of that revelation.
In short, if you’re a Hunger Games fanatic, you can’t miss this – particularly because of all the ways it foreshadows the original books. Otherwise, there’s no need to open this one up.
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
This is one of those few books where you can watch the movie and actually get almost the same story. That said, movies always leave some stuff out – in this case, it’s the “yikes the Hunger Games are brutal in terms of just surviving wounds and nature and stuff” that gets minimized in the films. Anyway, I enjoyed this series. The second one was my favourite – seeing the civil war develop and kick off was very exciting. It’s funny, but I was never that crazy about Katniss when reading the books. She wasn’t that likable to me. It wasn’t until I watched the movies that I cared more about her. She seemed like a real jerk in the books – so when Peeta has his whole “woah you’re a jerk” moment in Mockingjay, I was like “FINALLY!”.
People often discuss regarding this series whether Katniss should’ve ended up with Peeta or Gale, and if you ask me, I was always Team Gale. Peeta was a really nice guy, and Katniss was a jerk. So my reasoning was that she didn’t deserve Peeta.
All in all, this was a fun series. The third one was my least favourite – I didn’t like the ending. The second one I think is the best. You can decide for yourself!
Comments