Coriolanus Snow’s only way to rebuild his family’s legacy is to have his tribute make a good showing in the 10th Hunger Games. But when he starts to become interested in Lucy Gray, he wonders if it might be possible for her to actually win them.
I put off reading this book for a long time, scared off by mixed reviews from other fans of the Hunger Games series. It’s certainly a different type of story, but I ended up appreciating this new perspective into the world of Panem.
Coriolanus Snow, the narrator, is a snarky psychopath, and I found myself constantly snickering at his pitilessly funny and often delusional outlook on life. Still, for most of the book I couldn’t help rooting for him anyway. I enjoyed Lucy Gray’s enigmatic yet performative character – and thought she deserved much better than the likes of Coryo! I also appreciated how Sejanus and Coriolanus served as foils for each other both ideologically and emotionally, adding a lot of depth to the story.
I did think the story got a little slow in places though, and Coriolanus’s delusional self-justifications became a little too in-your-face by the end. Collins’s writing is so visceral that I got a little grossed out how he’d managed to get away scot-free with a lot of it in the end, but that’s probably the point!
I listened to the audiobook of this book, which is narrated by Santino Fontana. I liked the character and sarcasm he brought to Coriolanus’s voice, but his interpretation of female voices and his reading of Lucy Gray’s songs were not the best.