sehr spannend

spannend und super geschrieben
das Ende war etwas rushed aber ich bin echt beeindruckt
freu mich schon auf die Verfilmung

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A masterpiece.

I've been following Mrs. Collins' writing for quite some time now. Back in the 2000's, when I was still a child myself, I read her Underland Chronicles and enjoyed every minute of it. It was the way she constantly introduced new, more fantastical concepts that made me stay on edge during reading that series.

(Attention, the following section includes spoilers about the Hunger Games trilogy, but I assume most people who are interested in this book have already read it)

The Hunger Games trilogy, however, disappointed me a bit. I did not like the main character, Katniss Everdeen, one bit. She was a stereotypical hero. No bad side to her, just pure goodness. A Mary Sue, if you will. All "flaws" she had were just disguised positive traits (lacking obidience to authority, for example).
Same applies to pretty much all "good" characters throughout the series. The twist in the final book trying to spin Gale Hawthorne and president Coin as grey characters is nothing but a faint hearted attempt at ambivalence.
Furthermore, the whole universe of Panem seemed inorganic. The capitol system was far too little fleshed out to actually be believable. Oh, and it had an incredibly obnoxious fan base that would discard any criticism of the book as a personal attack on the writer. Please don't get me wrong - these were still solid books I liked to read, but they very far from perfect and worse than the Underland Chronicles.

This book fixes all of this. It gives a deep look into the history and customs of Panem and how the capitol became like it is. The version of Panem presented here, 65 years before the events of the trilogy, is far more believable and akin to our world. With this missing link, the further development into the bizarre world that is presented to Katniss and friends seems more likely.

The main reason why this book is so good, however, are the characters. Coriolanus Snow is so much better than Katniss Everdeen, damn, I can not emphasize this enough. He's such a well written gray (how ironic) character. At all times you could sympathize with his actions and behaviour (he actually has a very, very uncanny resemblance to real life me. I think there was only one situation in the whole book where I wouldn't have made the exact same decision he made, which makes me feel kind of uneasy), still he doesn't get out of character and it is absolutely believable that this bright young man will one day become the brutal dictator Snow we all loathe. There's also a lot of irony to be found in his young life compared to what happens 65 years later, but I won't spoil that.

Lucy Gray Beard, the second main character and the tribute from District 12, is a perfect match for Coriolanus. Bright, flashy and cute, someone who plays with her charisma to get what she wants. She's not an angel, either, which makes her even more interesting. Though it is never clear, she sometimes seems manipulative, even brutal. Those are her two sides - songbird and snake. Quite different from Katniss, but similar in some good ways.
These two people naturally fair very well together, which makes the love story that unfolds very natural and unforced. The dynamic between them is spectacular, but that's something Collins has always been exceptionally good at.

The supporting characters are very believable as well. Doctor Gaul is a believable sociopath, something you rarely find in novels nowadays. Sejanus Plinth is getting on your nerves, but that's intentional. He's the "too good for this world" kind of person you'd find in real life as well. He and his father actually remind me a lot of Thomas and Hanno Buddenbrook, they have a very similar character dynamic. Dean Highbottom is a very believable version of the Oppenheimer typus ("I have become death, the destroyer of worlds!"). If I had to nitpick, I didn't like the lack of attention the rest of the Covey (Lucy Gray's family and Co-Musicians) received. They stayed in the background so much you often forgot they were even there. They were so irrelevant to the experience, I can't remember any of their names right now except for Maud Ivory, even though they were nearly always present during the second half of the book and I just finished it.

Philosophically speaking, this novel deals with the question of anarchism vs. statism, both in their most extreme forms (living under an oppressive totalitarian regime vs. living in the wilderness). It's a literary battle between the state philosophy of John Locke (represented by Lucy Gray) and Thomas Hobbes (represented by Coriolanus). I found it kind of blunt to begin the novel with quotes directly taken from their works. The dialogues between Dr. Gaul and Coriolanus were also a bit too much "in your face". People who know a bit about philosophy would've understood anyways and it might distract the casual reader. Nonetheless, this theme is very elegantly woven into the story and the symbolism is really well made.

One thing I also wanted to mention as well is the ending. I obviously can't spoil it for all of you, so it must suffice that it was one of the most brilliant endings of a story I've ever read. It had a very deep meaning that resonated with me. I'm sure most of you will like it as well.

All of this made the novel seem... adult. I can't describe it, really, but it kind of feels as if the writing of Suzanne Collins has finally fully grown up. This is a literary piece of world class. It's not children's literature anymore, not in the slightest.

It is thus far the best book I have read this year, which is very impressive considering that I read "Romance of the Three Empires" by Luo Guanzhong a few weeks ago.

I don't know wether people who were very into Katniss will like this book much. It might even be a disappointment. But for me, it's Suzanne Collins' magnum opus.

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Great story

A truly exceptional, and catching story about the making of a villain. With a lot of twists and subtle references to the trilogy, it is a great choice for every fan of "The Hunger Games". Another speaker might have made the experience even better but that doesn't make the story less good.

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Black heart life

Well, one couldn’t stop listening hoping for the main character to become more likable. However, it’s a sad, garish, dark story of how Snow became snow. Leaving a very dark cloud hanging over the readers mind. 

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Great story, terrible reader

I don’t know what it is about the narrator that really irritates me. He sounds awfully monotone and the way he narrates the songs which make up a major part of the book just completely ruined it for me. I had a hard time focusing on the content because of this and I think I’ll buy the book and read it for myself instead because there’s a lot of details I missed.

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1 Person fand das hilfreich

I don't like Snow - I like Snow - Do I like Snow?

A whirlwind of emotions. I really liked this book, especially bc it gave me an insight into the adolescent mind of one of my most hated characters from the earlier (or later) mockingbird books.
I really appreciated the fact, that it wasn't just a carbon copy of the earlier books (I dare say, that Book 2 and 3 were very similar to book 1) but it gives a new angle and many more insights.

The most shocking part for me was, that my feelings toward young Snow kept changing, Suzanne Collins did very well on that account.

For me a must-listen if you liked the mockingjay-books.

I didn't mind the speaker, not amazing but I didn't hear any Mickey-Mouse-female voices other comments mentioned.

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Not the narrator's fault,

but there were a lot of songs in this one, and having them read flat out was not much fun at times...
Aside from that it was very well narrated.

It's a great story that had me hooked early on gripped me to the end. The slow corruption of a young man was very well done and believable.

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Good Story

I really liked the Story. But the voice just dosen't Sound right. If you are listening to this and your Device has the Option to activate Dolby Atmos I would Highly recommend doing that.

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Great Book! A must-read

Suzanne Collins outdid herself with this story. I really liked The Hunger Games so I was expecting a lot from this book. Normally though prequels or sequels to a good story are often less good than the original story. For this book though this is definitely not true. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is independently of The Hunger Games a really good book.
The only negative aspect of the audiobook is that the narrator speaks women's voices in a very weird voice and when there were songs the whole narration of them was also a bit listless. But apart from that I really liked the narrator and thought that he was a really good fit for the voice of Snow.

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Gutes Prequel!

Die Geschichte ist spannend erzählt. Collins schafft es wieder hervorragend, Personen zu zeichnen und diese mit Leben zu füllen.

Kleines Manko ist der Sprecher. Zwar macht er den Erzählteil sehr ordentlich, bei den Songs hat seine monotone, unmelodische Art einen ziemlich hohen Nervfaktor.

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