The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes review (Hunger Games prequel)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 23 май 2020
- Obviously there's a lot of excitement here and this book meets (most) expectations.
Patreon: / jamestullos
Twitter: / fortullos
goodreads: / james-tullos 
Развлечения
It didn’t really dawn on me while reading but Sejanus is the perfect foil to Coriolanus.
Sejanus is caring and compassionate while Snow is cold and manipulative. Sejanus appears cowardly and yet also is very outspoken about his anti-system beliefs, while Snow appears strong and yet is silent on things he disagrees with and mostly just falls in line.
Sejanus is rich and yet district born and hates his wealth, while Snow is capitol born and dirt poor, and resents his family’s decline.
The list goes on and on.
Bryce I love this, yes you’re so right
Sejanus is a bit of a dumb guy. He does what he thinks is true but he doesnt really think about the outcome if anything goes wrong. He is a good guy but if it wasnt by Coriolanus he would eventually die because of his 'not thought well plans'
@BRYCE. Now that you said that I just realized that they represent the present mentality: some people nowadays are speaking up on the things that are bad, living a life of principles (like Sejanus tried to do on his own) , yet others who are not so outspoken would be the ones who are most likely to accept compromises in order to upgrade their status (representing Coriolanus).
A Y He’s not so much “dumb”, but rather naïve. He believes that the people will rally behind him if he does the right thing, and that everything will turn out good eventually.
Poliana Raisa If anything, Sejanus is the perfect protagonist of a tragedy. An inherently good person with good motivations but with one tragic flaw: naïvety.
I thought Snow’s thoughts towards Lucy were intentional, to show that he didn’t truly love her, hinting at his villainy underneath the surface
His control tendencies are out of this world especially with Lucy.
@@leenaleewitch3731 I still thought it was interesting because you know what Snow will become.
i think snow believed that his obsession with lucy was actually love, but his narcissism clouded that
@@anna-ss7dq I believe he did like her until he went to district 12 and his jealousy and his obsession ruin it.
I doubt either actually loved each other. I think she knew what love was, realized she didn’t love him, and used him to win the games and didn’t really know what to do with him when he randomly showed up in district 12. Snow 100% didn’t know what love was but thought his obsession with her and desire to control her was love.
Problem with Snow is that he isn't really "the villain" of The Hunger Games per say; even Coin isn't quite the villain. Panem and the games themselves are the real villains, the system itself, as these existed long before either of them. Snow could have had a totally different personality and it wouldn't really have changed the central conflict.
It's not like Star Wars where the Empire is very much the vision of one extremely evil man, or Harry Potter where Voldemort has a fleshed-out backstory and motivations and goals that he aspires to that makes him a threat. Snows' personality and goals, no matter how interesting the reader may think they are or not, are largely inconsequential to what is going on.
Ultimately as a villain he can't really rise above "fine", in part because of the story he is in and the role he plays in it.
Agreed i have to say first time i read these books i thought he would take after his name sake a little more.
I thought that was the whole point? Like it was demonstrating how you don’t need some overpowering mastermind to establish corrupt systems, just people that look out for their own interests and thereby become complicit in the suffering of others
Thats the point isnt it
Is that a problem?
Guys, just because it's "the point" doesn't mean it makes Snow a better villain. In fact, giving him his own prequel kind of undermines that point in the first place.
I get the feeling Collins wants to have it both ways. She wants Snow to be this fleshed-out, interesting villain with his own backstory and motivations, but at the same time she wants those backstory and motivations to be unimportant to the role he plays in the story.
Basically, Snow could have been more interesting in a different story imo.
A prequel shouldn't rely on mortal stakes. We know that the "old characters" will live, since they were in the originals. A prequel should focus on expanding the worldbuilding and showing the character growth of the "old" characters, charting how they got to the point they were in, in the original series.
agree, and I think this book did do that
I’m personally fine with how it turned out. I think the destruction of the world was meant to be left ambiguous to show that even the intellectuals of the Capitol, like Snow, are in the dark on history. As for character growth, this book did a stellar job at it, like there were points where I had to stop and think about how it all applies to society today.
The only old characters in the book were Tigris and Snow. Everyone else was new.
@@metoo3342 don’t forget about all the family names that show up later in the series, like the flickermans, heavensbees, cranes, etc.
Fiction shouldn't have rules. You sound like "Prichard" on poetry from dead poet society.
How dangerous Snow might become later in his life can be suspected from his deeds during his teenage years: lying, cheating, stealing, betraying, exploiting, blackmailing. It gets worse from there. His main traits are greed and pride. His high intelligence enabled him to get away with his evil deeds. He got no punishment for them until much later - too late to revert his impression that he can get away with anything. Once he is convinced to get away with anything, he becomes totally uninhibited with his evil deeds. He never does evil deeds just to harm people, but always to get a personal gain (money, power, etc). Selfishness is his credo.
A song of Ice and F-
I mean The ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
All these fucking titles are getting so generic
Like, what next, the Requiem of Bulls and Shits?
@@OccuredJakub12 Well, not every book can be The Wise Man's Fear.
A ______ of ______ and ________.
Is the new YA trend.
this is exactly what I thought when i heard the title...
It works in this book no?
Ballad - reference to the insane amount of music in the book 😴
Songbird - jabberjays/mockingbirds/Lucy-Gray
Snakes - Literal snakes/Snow/capitol
🤷🏻♂️
This book has one rather minor moment that really stuck with me. Early on, Coriolanus talks about how his family had illegally stashed a whole lot of Lima beans in their home before shit got real, so when they otherwise would've been starving, they had these unappetizing but nutritious and long-lasting foodstuffs to keep them going. Coriolanus recounts the first time he and Tigris had seen one of their neighbors committing cannibalism, and became so thankful that they had the Lima beans, since they were the reason they were able to hold on to their virtue. (I think those were the words used, but I don't have the book on me atm).
Like, the Hunger Games is a franchise built around class divides and how people in a position of privilege can go along with atrocities because they know they personally won't be affected. And here is Coriolanus, calling his family virtuous because they didn't personally cannibalize anyone... even though they were hoarding enough food to get by while their neighbors were forced to eat people to survive. The same underlying principle of the Games themselves.
If I had a dollar for each time they said "coriolanus" in the book, i'd be Sejanus rich
And “Coryo”
Is it me or there's a lot of books with titles such "A song of" these days
Eventually their be a book called a "A song of A song of"
Because trend. Not all authors have the same level of integrity to go for a title that reflects their work. And even if they do, the agent and editor might impose their reduced integrity on both author and book.
Ripping off a song of ice and fire, I suppose
@@SergioLeonardoCornejo Eh, in this case it works.
@@minepose98 it works, trend chasing always does.
That's why I went indie. I didn't want an editor or agent to force a love triangle in my plot because that is, or was, trendy.
This is one of the best RUclips reviews I've seen for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes! You're very fair, very critical and talk about the good and the bad equally. Most of the reviews I've seen have been very prejudiced and myopic ("oh I hate Snow so the book is bad" or "this is just not as exciting as the main series, so I hate it"). Great job!
Personally I thought it was a really good book and most of the people that I’ve seen review it are like teenage girls who went into it with the notion that they wouldn’t like it so they didn’t I think people are hating on this book because it’s not the prequel they wanted I thought it was very well written and I might actually like it better than some of the original books I’m not sure yet but I agree with you and I think that this book should be given a chance and most of the characters are more interesting to me and the story as a whole seems a lot more personal maybe I just like that kind of writing more but I definitely think all the books are great and should be deemed worthy of each other
yeah i thought this too
BTW; "Coriolanus" is the name of the titular protagonist of a Shakespeare play. Brows Held High has an _excellent_ video on Shakespeare's _Coriolanus_ and the Ralph Fiennes film adaptation.
There is also a Hiddleston version.
I really thought with all my heart his name was Cornelius
The fact that your new microphone causes your normal, projected voice to sound worse is the fact that your room causes reverb, like any standard room with walls does. The reverb/bad audio effect is caused by your voice travelling in a straight line away from your mouth, past your microphone (where it picks up your voice), to the wall opposite of you, back to you past the microphone (where it picks up a second, overlayed version of that one), then past you again, bouncing off of the wall behind you, past your camera again for another layer etc. You old microphone had worse gain, which made it not pick up on the additional passes of your voice as much at the cost of overall sound quality. Your new microphone has a more gainful mic, so the sound quality increases due to it picking up the first pass of your soundwaves better, but the reverb effect becomes more pronounced due to it also picking up the second and third pass better.
The solution: Prevent your voice to bounce through your room like a bunch of mad gummy bears. Don't go off buying soundproofing panels for many precious monies, as that will be entirely unneccessary. Instead, a question: Do you eat eggs? Save the egg cartons. Use those to craft yourself your own soundproofing panel. The thing that makes these panels work is the fact that they have ripples or pyramid-like relief patterns on them, dispersing the sound. The lower portion of an egg carton fullfills the same criterium and is a lot cheaper. Put a bunch of them together and boom - soundproofing panel. One of those panels does not need to be bigger than about 20x20 inches (50x50 cm, if you measure like sane people). Egg cartons are light, too, so you can put them on the wall with a few of those powerstrip thingies by Tesa, no need for drilling holes or hammering in nails (unless you really want to).
What becomes the most important after that is the placement of your new soundpanels. As explained, the most bouncing happens behind your microphone, then behind you. So, thats where the panels should go. One opposite of you, behind the microphone, one behind you. This is almost guaranteed to reduce reverb by quite a bit, allowing you to use your voice as normal and also improving your overall sound quality in your videos. I advise to paint the panel you place behind you for asthetic reasons. If you want to reduce reverb further, or are unable to place the carton panels behind you, you can of course experiment around with other locations for them. I do not know the layout of your room, but be on the lookout for walls that are at an 45° angle, especially if they are in the general field of view while you're filming, those can be particularly nasty soundtraps causing additional problems.
Bonus: Recycling egg cartons is good for the environment.
TL;DR: Use lower halves of egg cartons to make economic DIY soundproofing panels. Place 1 behind microphone, 1 behind yourself and additional ones at own discretion (in that order of priority). Result: Better audio because less reverb. You is Welc.
thank u good person
You’re actually awesome! Thank you!!!!
Huh. N I C E .
SPOILER don't read this this comment if you haven't finished the book 📛
I think that the songs are really importants in the book, even if it's annoying to read. But this + others things related to the covey made me think that Katniss's father, who is very important but very mysterious in the saga is the son of Lucy Gray (who could have survived) or Maude Ivory, and a coal miner.
I can think of it because he sang really well, knew covey's songs (especially the hanging tree wich became forbidden so not a lot of people knew it) and knew the lake where the covey used to go all the time. And I think that Snow realised that he never really killed Lucy Gray when he saw Katniss singing for Rue in her first hunger games.
+ I can imagine his reaction when the hanging tree that Lucy Gray wrote in part for him became the song of the rebels and it's priceless lmao
So the differences between Snow and Katniss that made them exact opposites and the fact that Katniss could be the descendant of the covey would made the story of the hunger games even more interesting.
Voilà ! Btw sorry for my bad english
Didn't read the book yet but your comment made it sound far more interesting than the other reviewers lol want to read it now
@@forwhy8723 thank you ! I'm not sure of what I'm saying but they are clues that made me think that during my reading
And I think that the book was great even if it's not what people were waiting for and if you're a hunger games fan you have to read it! 😉
I think maybe CC might be Katniss's ancestor or either of the Corvey because most of the time The Hanging Tree and Deep in the Meadow are sung, it is only with the Corvey.
@@leenaleewitch3731 yes that's what I think !I'd prefer if Maude Ivory or Lucy Gray was her grandmother it would be more symbolic because they were both the singers in the Covey (even if it would be the best thing if Lucy Gray was Katniss's grandmother) and we know that Maude really liked the hanging tree so she could have sang it to Katniss's father
@@clarapsqr6088 you are right because Katniss last name is Evergreen.
I feel like people are too sensitive to fictional characters and systems just being bad by our standards. Someone being classist or some other “ism” should not, in my opinion, detract from our own opinions of that character or system _as a character or system_ . Maybe we don’t like them, sure, but that doesn’t make them a bad character or system for a fictional book. I remember someone criticizing a book because there were no female workers in this obviously sexist institution, and i was like “what?” “It’s sexist, thats the point!”. This is a fictional tale told from the perspective of a person living in the world, and readers should be able to recognize such obvious issues in a system without them being spelled out.
@Ses Pez they're using another book as an example
That just goes to show you how childish and stupid the vast majority of internet "critics" are. They're all coddled man-children with zero real world experiences or street smarts. Even their book smarts are severely lacking, to be honest.
"Everyone likes an under dog"
"I don't"
Will always be one of my favourite lines.
I read the title as "The Ballad of Spongebob."
ThePreciseClimber would’ve been better
Lmfao why can I see that?
ruclips.net/video/_9yhDpVUK3Q/видео.html
like this?
SAME
I like how the stakes are not him dying but her. Still gets you all the tension which is hard for a prequel. I actually loved the songs bc i just hummed them and it added something to the book as a whole for me.
500 pages long? Have I been reading too much high fantasy? That seems like nothing.
The first trilogy's books were only 300-400 pages
for a YA dystopian book, yeah it's p long. different genres have different standards.
I guess the author still can figure out how to make the world more interesting.
milk that money baby!!
@@Theskafan as she should
The world is interesting but most of her characters aren’t and I think that’s the biggest issue
@@Rhelanae She does lack on world building though. You and her likely think in the same way. That the world you see is world enough. But a lot of fans these days like to have the knowledge that the author knows far more about a world than you, the reader, ever will. Basically think how authors such as Tolkien and Rowling have notebooks full of their worlds, things they can call upon if needed, but might never make it into the final narrative.
No Name We still know nothing of pre-war Panem or what caused the apocalypse. We have no knowledge of the world outside Panem, or even a vague map of Panem. The only maps of Panem we have are overly cartoonish or complete speculation.
I’m so glad someone else liked this book! I’m a huge hunger games fans so I was excited for this from the beginning while keeping my expectations low, but now that I’ve read it, it’s a lot better than I thought
This book's out already?! Damn time flies
I keep reading about what snow's reaction must've been when katniss arrived from 12 with mockingjay and the hanging tree song, reminding him of lucy gray. But what about peeta? Peeta's compassionate personality must've reminded him of sejanus.
This video is reminiscent of 2012 RUclips, good times
Ahhh now i get why i love his vids so much
One thing I noticed is that non YA readers reading TBOSAS like it more than actual YA readers. Really does say something about the target audience
I think Lucy grey knew snow was evil. She played him throughout the book so she could survive and that’s why it was so easy for snow to turn on her so quickly. The love was gone because it was never there to begin with.
I also think Lucy grey went to district 13. She didn’t know snow left 12 and probably knew she couldn’t come back without him trying to kill her. She even could be Coins mother and taught Coin how evil snow is and that’s how Coin was able to outsmart Snow.
I had no idea this was even coming. Maybe I am just out of touch or maybe our modern, hyperfast pop culture that consumes media and spits out as fast when it loses its relevance.
I just found out about this now when this popped up in my feed lol
Or maybe it's because this book was poorly advertised... I found out Suzanne Collins was publishing this one only out of luck and boredom. Maybe because she thought this prequel would blow up on social media, while it actually didn't
This video is just what I needed. Was interested in how this book would portray Snow but when I read the original books I was in my early teens. And I can't really be bothered to reinvest myself into the series.
Sherlock Smuuug I read them when I was 10 and didn’t have difficulties to go back into the universe (as a 18 years old) because it’s very different from the original. Well at least, I found the « atmosphere » to be different. The people of panem don’t perceive the hunger games the same way etc (which was the most interesting part to read for me)
For anyone that hasn't read this book yet Do it! It's awesome to be back into the world and not only that The games are just as vicious and the story is pretty Gripping! Overall 8/10 Im hyped for the film as you know it's gonna be even better
I’m glad to see that the Hunger Games still holds up.
Ah, possibly my last pre-fandom obsession. It really holds a place in my heart.
A lot of people complained about the fact that the prequel was about Snow, but really I would not have been interested in a backstory on any other character. A lot of people wanted Haymitch. Haymitch is interesting when he's drunk, but I think readers would find that, just like a large percentage of drunkards in real life, he would turn out to be just dull and depressing when completely sober.
In-universe, I totally bought the character arc, which is an important success for the narrative. The biggest risk with making a sympathetic young Snow would have been having him feel like a completely different character, and that was avoided.
My biggest gripe however is that while I applaud the in-universe consistency of the character while undergoing his "transformation" arc, I have a hard time buying much of it from an out-of-universe realist perspective.
The "corruption/fallen idealist" arc that's been popular in our literature since ancient times that suggests that history's greatest monsters could have started out as basically decent but troubled people who were molded by circumstance into what they became is a nice romantic idea, but it's rarely borne out by reality. Deeply evil men like genocidal dictators, crime bosses, terrorist leaders, etc. have often already "turned evil" by the time they reach their early 20s if not their teens. We've never been able to purge our innate suspicion that some men are are just "born evil" due to their biographies. And it's often not a slow descent of small choices that lead to bigger choices like fiction portrays, it's full on wickedness early in life that leads people in the aftermath of whatever got them famous to wonder why someone didn't shoot them decades ago. In their youth, they often start committing a rapidly escalating series of crimes, hit their girlfriends, hurt small animals, etc. When given the opportunity to really start hurting people for the first time, they either find that they totally love it and will live for nothing else, or they grow feint at a mere drop of blood but won't give up violence itself so they do it through others from then on. Eventually, they pick up an alcohol and/or drug habit that would totally debilitate most normal people but they somehow manage to keep functioning enough to keep doing ghastly things. After they die, it's usually difficult to pinpoint the theoretical time in their life when they could have been "saved."
So while I did enjoy a mostly sympathetic Snow from a reading standpoint, realistically I had trouble buying his overall arc, although, as with the original HG trilogy, much of what I felt was done wrong was salvaged in the last couple chapters.
Ironically, maybe the biggest exception to all I just said would be Adolf Hitler, but even with him he kind of proves my point. From the romantic view, he would be seen as a nice painter boy who ended up evil through a combination of frustrated ambition, indeterminate mental trauma, and underlying mental problems, but I think even if you talked to him when he was a teenager you would have found him at a minimum to be a deeply weird person with some already pretty fucked up views on the world even by the standards of his time and you'd wonder why anyone would ever want to be around him.
Now, to put on the armchair-author/editor-of-a-book-I-didn't-write hat, I would have tried to portray Snow as something of a fanatic from the start. While his Academy class was hesitantly debating the merits of the Games, he'd be the one at the front of the class shouting about how they are a brilliant social engineering program and praising it in ways that make even his professors uneasy. He still has a basic human conscience and empathy at that point in his life though, so when he becomes the mentor to Lucy Grey, the tension would come from the fact that his attraction to her and the feeling that she is a good person has forced him to question his worldview and his views on the Districts for really the first time in his life. But then he rationalizes that she just happens to be the one in 100 District residents who is good and that the other 99% are probably still scum or at least not to be sympathized with too much. Him trying so hard to make her the winner then would stem not just from a fantastic and somewhat delusional desire to be with her, but from the need to prove his own sense of justice, i.e. her being crowned the victor would prove that the Games were just because she was the rare good person from the Districts and justice allowed her to win against the others who were not good.
In my opinion, “The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds” would sound way better than “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” because... syllables, I guess.
songbirds and snakes just sounds much better
@@emoraes02 *N O*
Both have different appeals. “Snakes and songbirds” might phonetically sound better, but thematically “Songbirds and snakes” sort of establishes beauty and then adds a tinge of ugliness that sounds thematically great.
I thought it was called that
Exactly 10 seconds in and we’re getting a ‘hell yeah’. Promising
I’m still in the first 100 pages and I’m enjoying this book. I like how it doesn’t show Snow as evil but more ambitious. In that way he can almost be considered the conservative ideal hero, a person from nothing doing whatever he has to do to get on top.
So about the Thomas Hobbes bit. You mention 'Absolute Monarch' but it is actually 'Absolute Sovereignty', and there is quite a difference. Absolute monarch implies the existence of a monarchy, with a king or queen holding absolute power. An Absolute Sovereignty is any (body) holding absolute power. A State could be an Absolute Sovereignty. The key is the social contract, (which actually reflects how societies such as the United States and the United Kingdom perform in the modern day), where us citizens give up certain rights, varying from place to place, for protection from a greater entity (the State).
So it turns out that Lucy is mentioned in the 1st hunger games book. As well as being the person to introduce entertainment to the districts, a bunch of songs referenced in the books were by her.
I enjoyed this book a lot until the last maybe 10-20 pages when everyone fell into place very fast and conveniently and felt like it was too easy for him at the end would have been better if there was some negative for him, but I loved learning about where elements from the original came from
Louisa Hassall It was definitely very rushed at the end. I wonder if there will be another book to explain what happens to Tigris.
Suzanne Sinclair I hope so as I love this world and think the extra world building stayed consistent with the original triology
Louisa Hassall I agree, Louisa. I loved all the details that tied into the original trilogy and Snow’s attitude to Katniss.
I suggest investing in some sound proof panels to at least put in various corners of your room. Maybe move all those books to some bookshelves (since I know that's part of what you want in your background!) and close the closet to help, too. That'd help in the interim. It's amazing how much sound proofing helps, even the most minimal, if they're placed in the right place. It helps with echo.
I LOVE YOUR INTRODUCTION SONG!
And I am so relieved that the prequel has delivered. I've been nervous. I can't wait to get to know Snow better. You're completely right - he was a representation of a broken system in the original trilogy.
YOU HAVE LoTR RISK?????? My parents gave it away. We don't speak anymore
Brooooo! The songs! They're important! 😂 Also with the whole world building deal I honestly like a lot of that to be kept a mystery. Sure she could've told us how everyone else died out or if there are others out there besides panem but I think it's good to leave some things to speculation. As for the amount of characters I don't think it was that bad. You don't remember them because they're not important. It's not important to know exactly which tribute belongs to which mentor etc. This was a good video though I don't mean to bash your opinions. I just loved this book so much😅😂
But, does Snow like sand or not?
@@tomh4754 but. . . It sure is tasty
I’d love to see you review the keeper of the lost cities books at some point. Especially in comparison to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.
I would say there’s no comparison. I really wanted to like those books but there wasn’t any substance to the fantasy world and the main character’s super specialness was really irritating.
i didnt even get past the first few chapters of that book.
Megan McClung man I’d wish I’d seen your response when you sent it. Sorry for being late. Personally I enjoy the books, they do feel a bit slow at times but I enjoy them. To each their own I suppose!
oh man i loved those books when i was younger and now i reread them for the nostalgia but BOY are those books poorly developed and poorly written! keeper will always hold a special place in my heart but there were so many tiring aspects; for example, a main character who's insanely special and socially oblivious does not make for an interesting story. i also got irritated by the fact that the antagonists were always so many steps ahead that it felt like the protagonists didn't have a shred of hope for emerging victorious. i mean, for the first couple sequels it's alright, but if we're at like seven or eight books and still feel a million miles away from being evenly matched? it's just boring. i will say that i really liked the way the powers were incorporated into overarching plotlines, though. i liked that specific powers played roles in specific aspects of the plot, rather than the powers just being a plot device to get things done in a fancier or more palatable manner. i also really liked that sophie and dex had a romantic encounter, realized it wouldn't work out, had a couple weeks of awkwardness, then resumed being best friends. i don't see that enough in young adult books, especially fantasy. i just hope shannon messenger doesn't make sophie and fitz end up together. it's cliche in all the worst ways, plus fitz's behavior in the most recent book threw some red flags for me; most of all, fitz and sophie have a strikingly boring relationship. her chemistry with keefe is so much better and so much less forced. in conclusion i hate fitz and even though these books suck i will continue to read them and be annoyed by them for the sake of nostalgia!
Really been enjoying listening to your book reviews while sitting at work, helps the time pass and it's fun to visit a lot of the books I read when I was younger
Tbh I would love a book by Susan about the establishment of the hunger games, I think that could be so great
James can make me become engaged in reviews of stories that I've never heard of, nor cared for, about a series I found no interest in
James, you are the Anthony Fantano of books.
Keep it up!
BRB, going to the bookstore.
Fuck, it's Sunday.
Love seeing notifications for your vids, James!
That book made me crave for Alma Coin’s back story
Wow my favorite review mostly because I’ve seen way too many that try to paint snow as an ‘actually not evil character’. While there’s some merit to that I like how you don’t give him a pass because throughout the book, yeah, he’s still a bad guy. Also I really liked how you didn’t excuse him just because he didn’t create the current system, but is still contributing to it which has consequences for others.
I loved that book, the end was EVERYTHING
SERIOUSLY! I was reading it like 😦
Finished reading it just now.
I wasnt really compelled by the plot, i was rather more invested in the overall theme
I think that was the approach of this book. Where as the trilogy focused more on the plot and the games the prequel shifted the attention to the characters and the development of such individuals. I really enjoyed it, especially since I read the other books long time ago forgetting certain things, so I went into it without holding such expectations.
You Know I thought the Title was going to be a Hunger Games Parody at First Glance.
The fact you have heroscpae in your closet, I LOVE heroscape- I was devastated that it got discontinued, but I play it any time I can manage settign everything up XD
Am I the only one who got attached to Sejanus? He was to good for that world and I wish we would have gotten more of him before... I swear I just have the worst luck with the characters I like.
I guess Im not the only who would like to know how the first rebellion started and just the Dark Days in general and how Panem was just before the First Rebellion began or just the brink of when it was about to began. They should definitely make a trilogy set of books on how it began. Book 1 could be right as the first rebellion began, book 2 during the war, and the third should be the climax of it. Maybe perhaps with a District 13 protagonist and to see how the rebellion failed, D13 went into hiding and that stuff.
I just realized that you have the exact same Transformers chess set as me.
I bought the audiobook after listening to this since it was off my radar, much appreciated.
If it's not practical to do foam soundproofing, you could try hanging blankets up to help with audio. Looking forward to the review.
was i the only one who couldn't remember snow's first name for the life of me
Have you read the Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green? I would love to hear your thoughts about it :)
I was worried that this was book was gonna try to get the readers to sympathize with Snow. I'm happy to see that this wasn't the case.
Snow's descent to betrayal and corruption was beautifully executed. I really hope we more prequels stories of previous games.
Didn't even know this was a thing until two seconds ago and I am hyped!
Prequeal?!?!
Also I know a few ways to help with echoes and such. If you want I can tell you.
I've been working on it, I think the issue will be resolved in future content.
@@JamesTullos okay then. Btw I'm pretty interested you don't like the songs. While I agree reading them leads to problems because you don't know the rythm and such but I think that's kinda the best part. You get to exeriment and find your own flow to the songs.
please could you do a review on alyson noel's series the immortals? i'm curious about your opinion on that after i've seen ypur reviews on house of night and elixir
Anyone know if he's done a review on the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks, I'm wondering if few people have read it yet alone heard of it
bruh I thought Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a book in the Song of Ice and Fire series
Just started watching your videos, love your channel :)
Hurray for the introducing song
I wasn't even aware that this was a thing that existed ever
Are you ever going to do a video about Ranger's Apprentice? I loved that series when I was younger and i saw that you had an option on it on a poll in the past!
Edit: I'll watch your Q&A now.. might just answer my question.
Just found you today and subscribed! You somehow very good at keeping me captivated. Kind of like the old youtube vibe, not super over edited and no music, haha.
Also checked your goodreads; FINALLY someone who read and liked the Darren Shan series. Thank god, literally no one I know knows about them. May I ask how old you are? don't mind if you want to keep that private. In my twenties myself.
Anyways, my compliments!
I was hoping to find out what happened between him and Tigris to make them enemies, and I wanted to know HOW he became President. This book did not deliver on these two questions sadly.
Apparently, it's going to be a prequel trilogy, but I haven't seen any confirmation.
Same here, what led to Tigris wanting him dead?
Have you read Worm? I'd be interested to know your opinions on it
Would you ever consider reviewing Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go?
"The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking."
SPOILERS?!
-
-
I agree what you said about the world building and I'd like to add that i wished Lucy Gray was from some other district bc we are already familiar with district 12 and it would have been nice to see some other district. Sure her story connects nicely to Katniss this way but I (and probably many more) are curious to see other places than Capitol and district 12 in panem
Just finished the book and I agree with pretty much all of the points you made! It was an interesting read for sure and more people need to give the story a chance
I just want to appreciate the transformers chess set in the background. Excellent.
This channel deserves WAY more subscribers than it currently has
I just got he book today!!! Super excited!!!
WAIT A MINUTE now that's really random and probably no one cares but I'm Brazilian and my Portuguese teacher is called Coriolanu, I've always wondered where his parents got this name from, at least now I know it has some sort of origin or something lol Coriolanus sounds better though
Oh look at my past self 🤠 hi past me no one cared about your comment
@@demitwice Hey, it took a while, but I did!
I guess you know by now C. is based on Shakespeare, who based his C. on a real life Roman general www.britannica.com/topic/Coriolanus-by-Shakespeare I'm not clear why your teacher's parents named him that, because he's a grey hero. I like him, though.
I would suggest that you label your video as somewhat of a spoiler just in case a viewer, interested in hearing reviews prior to reading, stumbles upon your review. You did reveal some important details that I can see some people getting upset about. In any case, I adored your assessment of the book. You had some great insights that very much resonated with me. The book was wonderful. The ending definitely shook the boat, and in my opinion, Suzanne left us on a great cliff-hanger with much potential for more building.
I skipped all the songs as well lol. I fully agree with too many characters, especially the first half, I couldn't keep them straight and the names are so weird and many of them long, so that doesn't help. I did really like the book though.
The names are Latin. I feel like capitol people give their children latin names, because it makes them feel superior
I was wary of a book about Snow. Not ready to buy that yet. But I love the Hunger Games series. Plus your review was amazing.
Living for the marvel heroscape in the background :0
Nice review! Just finished it today and yes, I agree that the lack of world building was a missed opportunity. Overall, I did enjoy the book. Yes, I agree that the songs were too much and annoying. The hanging tree one did entice me at first, only because I thought they were going to flesh out its connection to the OT, but it ended up just being a "fun Easter egg".
Btw, I love LOTR Risk! One of my favorite board games to this day
I started this thinking “am I gonna like this review?” And it got to the theme song and I was like “oh ya I’m gonna like this review 😂” for real dude you’re funny and insightful. Keep pursuing youtube!!!
Try putting paneling used in photo and sound studios that are sold in stores to help with the rooms reverb.
I agree with you on the whole not enjoying reading songs thing. I don’t know if anyone already commented on this, but a singer named Maiah Wynne has done covers of all the songs. I recommend just listening to them instead of reading them.
Throw up some towels to absorb some reverb
The audio sounds fine man!
Could you review the Red Rising books by Pierce Brown
SPOILER WARNING!!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I read the book and finished it yesterday. I have this crazy idea that Coin is actually Lucy Gray. Lucy ran at the end, no-one knows what happened to her. So I think she made it to district 13 and they took her in and she ended up President. Sounds crazy? I know it does, but after she returned to district 12 after the games, it says she wore a grey dress, rather than her colours. Being betrayed by Snow could have made her hard hearted and not wanting to find love ever again. Snow himself claims that love changed him and he would never marry for love because love would make him weak. What if Lucy Gray was affected the same way?
Also what if Snow finds out that Lucy Gray is in District 13? It could explain why The Capitol leaves district 13 alone.
I also think that Katniss is related to Maude Ivory, probably her Granddaughter. I think it's definitely implied that Katniss is descended from the Covey. She loves to sing and has a good voice (book Katniss, not so much movie Katniss) Her father was a singer, and both Katniss and her Father knew the old Covey songs.
I'd love to get another book that carries on Maude Ivorys story, also Lucy Gray, and I want to see what happened betweet Snow and Tigris.
Katniss obviously reminds President snow of Lucy. That's why he is so fascinated/obsessed with her.
The ages of coin and Lucy gray don't really match up, Lucy gray would have been as old as Mags if she survived
i really enjoyed this. thank you
Patrols off the coast to protect them,
But from what?
THE BRITISH ARE COMING BY SEA BY SEA
Great review!
I see Lord of The Rings RISK behind you!
Sir, accept my like! 👏🏻
Have you read Crime and Punishment?
I'm surprised it wasn't obvious right off the bat what highbottoms deal was. He says how the games were theoretical, and also is introduced as the first games designer who got addicted. It was pretty clear not even subtext.
But bang on about how characters are what a prequel should delve on and tbis nailed it
Thank you sir!