Elisabeth McMichael

Eh. Beautifully written but would have been much better if it was like 200 pages shorter. Nothing happened—and I suppose that’s the point but there was no greater purpose imo. Very existential. I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time but I don’t think I got much out of it unfortunately.

this exists in one of my favorite genres: books so bad you can’t put them down. the characters were flat, the plot lines felt like they went everywhere and nowhere, and the ending was very anticlimactic. naturally i read it in 2 days. i had to know if it would be worth it. the twist was fun for 2 seconds and then the book was basically over.

man. i knew in advance i needed to suspend disbelief for this novel yet still i was unprepared for how ridiculous it got. i really enjoyed it (mostly because it is ridiculous and outdated and mostly incorrect and every character/plot line came full circle at the end (classic dan brown)) until the climax and ending where i had to roll my eyes at every new chapter. i mean come on. you’re telling me these are some of the most intelligent people in the country and they couldn’t solve that man’s riddle?? it was SO OBVIOUS. whatever. i’ll probably still read another dan brown book after this and roll my eyes some more.

this is one of the first books i’ve read in a long time that i didn’t want to put down. i thought about it constantly. i’d read it on my lunch break at work and then as soon as i got home. it is so good. i think what makes it even better is that i really wasn’t expecting to like it.

i really loved that the ending of this book changed my perception on the whole of it it felt like the whole world opened up and everything from the beginning could be seen in a new way. i was also pleasantly surprised with the direction it took because i really wasn’t expecting different dimensions and i’m happy that the whole story won’t stay within the confines of the school or the government the way i figured

i only took off a star for two reasons:

1. i felt like the world building was a bit confusing. probably reader error but i felt like there were things that were explained too late or not at all and i really had to rely on context clues to figure it out. there was a helpful glossary in the back but i’m lazy and also forgot about it for half of the book.

2. i really liked that vis was a no-bullshit type of hero. he is strong, capable, extremely intelligent, and had a realistic moral code. BUT there were some victories of his that felt slightly unbelievable. am i bad for wanting my hero to fail sometimes? mainly i’m talking about the foundation game between him and belli. i didn’t really want him to fail but i would have maybe liked him to struggle more.

otherwise, this book is fantastic. it was slightly slow to start but so so worth it. i can’t wait for the next book.

being in snow’s head for 16 hours (audiobook) was EXHAUSTING. but what a supervillain! his inner thoughts really got kinda scary at the end.

i liked how this book gave me a lot of insight into the WHYs of the hunger games. i liked the politics of it and i liked hearing his inner thoughts and turmoil as he justified his actions and worldview.

i loved all the easter eggs and tie-ins to the original series. and i loved that every time he showed his true colors i could think about how he gets his comeuppance in such an unwittingly personal way.