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Michaeline Perry

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Michaeline Perry is currently reading

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

by Suzanne Collins

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2025

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Michaeline Perry said: " Loved this. I'm deeply concerned by the general response to this book, though.

10 years after the war between the Capitol and the Districts, Panem is preparing for the 10th annual Hunger Games, and this year, things are going to be run differently. Th Loved this. I'm deeply concerned by the general response to this book, though.

10 years after the war between the Capitol and the Districts, Panem is preparing for the 10th annual Hunger Games, and this year, things are going to be run differently. The students of the Capitol are given a school project: mentor the tributes and brainstorm ways to get people to watch and engage with the games again. With the student who makes the best effort receiving a scholarship to the university, a young Coriolanus Snow (known to Hunger Games readers as President Snow) is determined to win and get his family out of their difficult financial situation. However, the odds are not in his favor as he is assigned the female tribute from district 12. With their fates intertwined, Coriolanus and his tribute must work together to find a way to keep her alive.

So first I have to get this off my chest: the people whose main takeaway from this book was swoony feelings for Coriolanus "Found a Way to Make Murdering 23 Children A Year Entertaining" Snow need so much therapy. If this is you, what in the actual fuck? I am all for morally grey or even completely corrupt love interests who will murder people left and right, but they absolutely need to be willing to burn the entire world down for their love. Snow was not only complicit in her situation in the games, but the situation in the end... I won't spoil it, but if you know you know. Bro was not willing to do a single thing for his love if it inconvenienced him in the slightest unless it happened to benefit him in the long run. Is the actor hot in the movies? Sure. But he's still an absolutely self-centered, manipulative, evil motherfucker, and any other take is a concerning one.

Now that I've gotten my ranting out of the way, I loved this book. Seeing how the Games were changed from something the majority of Capitol citizens were disgusted by into something they reveled in and blindly supported was fascinating, and the ease with which the change happened is horrifying, especially in light of the current political climate.

A critique of this book I've heard a lot is that it is too difficult to be in the villain's head. Fortunately for me, I didn't have that experience. Unfortunately for me, that's because I dated a man who was similarly manipulative and self-centered, so his thought processes were quite familiar to me, and while being in his head was definitely disgusting, it was not totally uncomfortable.

My one critique is just that I very badly wish that Lucy Grey had only been pretending to like Snow so that she could survive the Games. The idea of her actually being into him makes me want to vomit. It's not even really a critique, though. Just a selfish need to have the book go my way. Just like how I was so sickened by Prim's death at the end of Mockingjay that I wished it had been written differently.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this one, especially if you are a fan of the original trilogy. But for the love of God, please remember while you are reading this book that this is President Fucking Snow. Creator of the Quarter Quell. The man who kills children. The man who consistently tries to kill Katniss and Peeta. For fucks sake at no point is this man your swoony villain love interest. Focus on the political implications of this book. The themes of government control. Not the fucking "love story". Blegh. ...more "

Apr 21, 2025 06:57PM · see review