Discover new books on Goodreads

Meet your next favorite book

110 ratings (3.75 avg)
69 reviews

#67 best reviewers

gretchen ❁

Add friend

https://www.goodreads.com/sagegreenlibrary

gretchen ❁’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (210)
currently-reading‎ (2)
read‎ (115)

did-not-finish‎ (4)
favorites‎ (4)
dnf‎ (3)

will-get-back-to-later‎ (2)
reread‎ (1)
save-for-later‎ (0)

Stats | More…

gretchen ❁ is Currently Reading

gretchen ❁ is currently reading

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0)

by Suzanne Collins

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in July 2024

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

gretchen ❁ said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" After finishing this book, I had to give it some time to marinate in my brain in order for me to collect my thoughts. I watched the movie before picking it up, which honestly did not ruin or make the reading experience any less entertaining for me. I After finishing this book, I had to give it some time to marinate in my brain in order for me to collect my thoughts. I watched the movie before picking it up, which honestly did not ruin or make the reading experience any less entertaining for me. I enjoyed reading it along with the views and thoughts about the world Coriolanus had throughout the course of the story, which we were not privy to in the film. The questions and debates on nature vs nurture were thought provoking and gave me a whole new perspective on Snow as a character and how all he went through in this book and his past created the merciless dictator in the original trilogy.

However, despite all the praise I have to give, this read did not come without its flaws. Getting to know the origins of the Hunger Games we now know in Part I was the most interesting portion of this book. How they treated the Tributes, seeing the behavior of Capitol citizens from the point of view of a member of said society, along with how the Games were viewed at the time was really interesting to see. Part II was also entertaining (The Old Therebefore is my favorite song) and kept up the pace with Part I, but Part III is where I began to lose interest and honestly, where I was the most infuriated by Snow as a character, which I believe was intentional.

Snow's hatred towards Mockingjays was highlighted on purpose, but having it being mentioned repeatedly, maybe a bit too much, was too on the nose for what was to come in the original trilogy. We get it. You hate them. They symbolize something out of your control, like Lucy Gray and Katniss, and can't stand them. I also felt like nothing happened for the most part on Part III and his transition to villainy was too rushed, considering he kept flip flopping between his views of Capitol vs District.

I will admit, one quote made me cry a bit, because Lucy Gray Baird is someone I adore.

"It was just one more way to eliminate Lucy Gray from the world. The Capitol would forget her, and District 12 had never accepted her as one of their own. In a few years, there would be a vague memory that a girl had once sung in the arena. And then that would be forgotten, too. Good-bye, Lucy Gray, we hardly knew you."

She deserved so much better. I will remember you Lucy Gray and the amazing woman you are (bc I'm convinced she survived.) It's not over until the mockingjay sings and 66 years later, it sure did. ...more "

progress:

(76%)
— Jul 01, 2024 12:15PM

Jul 03, 2024 11:10AM · see review

gretchen ❁ is currently reading

The Iliad

by Homer

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Aug 30, 2026 12:19PM

gretchen ❁’s Quotes

“Words tell stories. Specifically, the history of those words - how they came into use, and how their meaning morphed into what they mean today - tell us just as much about a people, if not more, than any other kind of historical artefact.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

130 likes

“Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

tags: babel

534 likes