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?

  • NenupharII@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Well actually, when the first Hunger Games book was published, I was going to offer a copy to my cousin (we were both teens at that time). I really wasn’t into dystopias, but before giving it to her I got curious and decided to read the first chapter. I ended up buying her another copy lol

    • BloomEPU@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I have some Issues with the hunger games series but holy shit suzanne collins’ prose just grabs you right from the start. Reading is a really visual experience for me anyway but the prose of those books is so immersive.