Nicholas

The ballad of songbirds and snATEs. Suzanne you really wrote one hell of a book. I had heard how this book sucked and was not good for years which put me off from reading it. With a movie coming up I was eager to read it and only started two days before my showtime and I'm so glad I did. I love this story and I love how entertaining it was. I could not put it down and that’s not just because I only had a few days to finish.

The first part was so cool read and to explore how not only the capital functioned but how the games were being set up. Lucy Gray was such a compelling character and her introduction made me love her right away. Then the games themselves felt so different than last time. Having the perspective be outside of the games brought a whole new layer that made it feel fresh. Lucy Gray coming in with her snakes was iconic I cannot lie. The third part is such a sharp turn that is bold because it shows the beginning of the snow we know. It shows he could have had a happy life it he wanted but he's a loser so he couldn't. I loved all the callbacks to the original and how they recontextualize aspects of the trilogy. This includes Lucy Gray being from district 12 just like Katniss and her literally creating the hanging tree the anthem of the rebellion. It makes Snows eventually downfall even funnier because not only is he getting taken down but it's literally by a girl from district 12 who sings his ex's song. The snows investing in district 13 only for that to make them poor but then district 13 is the reason the rebels even exist. Snow hating mockingjays which Katniss goes on to represent. There's more but I just love these aspects.

Seeing how the games developed was arguably the strongest aspect of this whole book. I loved how it built the world of Panem more and started traditions that continued into the future games. I also think it was a great choice to have snow be the protagonist because it shows us he's always been horrible from the start. Also Sejanus was annoying as hell and literally moronic throughout this entire book to the point he pissed me off. I get what he was going for and I agree with his opinions but he felt like a child with his decisions This truly was a great book and I'm not sure why people didn't enjoy it.