So here we come to the end of our trip through the world that Susan Collins created. As I said, when I was reviewing The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I read this book for the chance to renew, similarly, this was the first time I watched this movie

However, moving on to next week’s schedule, we will be leaving Panem and entering Discworld. I will be reviewing the Tiffany Aching book series.  This will be the first series I’m covering that has not been adapted into anything.

“Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he’s assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who’s a songbird and who’s a snake.”

If you have never read the book, watch the movie first because there are a few holes in the plot that will be noticeable if you have read the book. On the other hand, the actors are extremely memorable. Overall, it is an interesting movie.

Before we get to the movie, there are certain things that I would like to talk about, the end of the book, specifically Dean Highbottom and the Plinths. Firstly, near the end of the book, we find out why Dean Highbottom hates Coriolanus Snow. The fact that Coriolanus’s father is the reason why the Hunger Games came to be, as the idea originally was just a thought experiment, and Coriolanus’s father was the one to submit it. It is so interesting that it was a Snow that created the games, and it was a Snow that made the games what they are in the future.

Secondly, Coriolanus Snow takes Sejanus’s place in his family. After a whole book of Snow being frustrated with Sejanus, especially when he thinks that Sejanus has all the things that Snow should have. Now, Snow takes what he believes is truly his. We can see Susan Collins’ love of different birds; a Snow has become a Cuckoo bird.

Now I have 5 things I would like to talk about.

Firstly, the way that this movie dealt with the pacing, which I know for a logistical reason they couldn’t show every single bit of the book, but there isn’t enough space to make me believe these characters.

Secondly, Coriolanus Snow. In the book, we know that Snow is faking a lot of his interactions with a lot of the world. But because we are not in Snow’s head, we don’t see that. My main issue with this is the fact that they could change things; you could have him write in a journal, or have his expression change after a person leaves.

Thirdly, the fashion of the characters differs in two ways. Firstly, while I understand that due to the Capital having just got out of a war, it makes sense that the extravert clothing would be unavailable. But that raises the question of why Doctor Gall’s clothing looks so odd in comparison to anyone else. Secondly, Lucy Grey Bard. In the book, in her first introduction she is described as wearing such garish colours that she is compared to a clown. We do not see this in the movie; it all looks toned down.

Fourthly, I need to talk about the end of the 10^th Hunger Games, specifically the fact that Snow and most of his classmates were chanting “let her out”. This is extremely different from the book, especially when most of the mentors didn’t care about most of the tributes. Also, the fact that Doctor Gale would not have given up control like that.

Fifthly, it feels like they made Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Grey Bard soften too much to make a love story without us seeing Snow’s thoughts about claiming that Lucy belongs to him. Also, we don’t see Lucy being as sharp as she is in the book, for example, the fact that the end of the 10th Hunger Games has her outlasting the snakes instead of tricking Reaper into drinking poisoned water.

Ok, we are done. For those who are interested, this is the first book series I reviewed in full. You see, when I planned to start a book review blog, I started to review whatever I had finished reading. When it came to planning what order to review things, I knew that I wanted to start with the Percy Jackson series; it just made sense. And after that, I went on to this one. So, for the time being we will be leaving Panama behind. Until next week, when we start something new.

Happy reading to all, and to all a good night.