i needed to let this book sink in for a little bit before writing a little review. overall i am happy i read it, and it feels like something that’s going to stick with me especially with the movie coming out buttttt 3 stars.

i know it’s nitpicky and i can understand the reasoning behind it, but books written in third person usually leave me feeling disconnected from the characters and story entirely - more of a history book feeling. that’s how i felt with this. even though i knew i was supposed to feel connected to sejanus and lucy gray, i found myself not really caring when things happened to them. of course i cared for the plot and i can recognise the significance of the things that happened (ie sejanus’ hanging and lucy grays disappearance), but it just didn’t hit.

at the beginning snow reminded me a lot of peeta with his charisma, charm, and GOOD intentions especially in front of the cameras. his ‘love’ for lucy gray, all very peeta-esque. but of course this descended into him becoming a capitol pawn, manipulative and sociopathic. felt sad to see him go down that way when there were so many opportunities for him to be good.

his obsession with birds - hatred i should say - because he couldn’t control them was an interesting concept. mockingjays being evidence of a loss of control and order in nature, capitols creations unhinged, and the way it made him feel in regards to lucy gray. she was like a bird, a mockingjay he couldn’t control (katnissssss i see you)

snow essentially becoming adopted by sejanus’ family even though he was the one who indirectly killed him was so messed up. they had no idea too. damn

i felt bad for grandmaam, she had no clue her grandson would become the man he did. poor tigris too. they were such good people

as much as i appreciated the events in this book, part of me was always wanting more. finnicks storytelling of snows history was a little more intriguing at some points. give me more action, more poison - there was a sprinkling of this, but again at the same time i can understand why. maybe i’m just greedy

the musical elements (DEEP IN THE MEADDOWWW + the hanging tree i NEED to know how katniss knew these songs. there are so many theories).

the games themselves were a little underwhelming BUT it was the 10th games. of course it wasn’t going to be anything like the games we know. but i think the tributes being mostly killed off before the games even started kinda just made it feel a little more dull

since this is becoming a movie i don’t think i need to write a summary for myself; hopefully i don’t regret that decision in the future. overall happy i read it, will remember it, but it felt more like a history book i had to read because i needed to know about snow. not as thrilling, not as captivating, not as emotional