I went into Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes thinking it would be a real eyeroller as I’m not to fond of YA dystopian sci-fi, but seeing as how the film adaption was around the corner and the time I sank into the Hunger Games trilogy (and being the unapologetic asshole who believes the words “the book was better” to be Mosaic Law), I said fuck it and gave it a read.

And I was surprised be how I wanted to keep going after the end of every chapter. I enjoyed getting into the head of Coriolanus Snow and his possessive infatuation with Lucy Gray and the inner working of Capitol class structure.

That’s not to say I don’t have issues with the book. The pacing is inconsistent, the actual Hunger Games are a relative bore, and some characters could have benefited from more focus.

But through it all, I don’t feel my time has been wasted reading it and am curious to see how the film adapts it.

Any books you’ve read that you thought you’d hate but ended up enjoying? Why?

  • floatingthroughpages@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. I was recommended this book by my grandmother, and I do not usually read memoirs and I don’t usually like the same genres as she does but thought I would give it a shot because of how much she enjoyed it. And turns out… I absolutely loved it, and have reread it recently as well. Such a powerful and passionate memoir. Would definitely recommend.