So, I just finished the book yesterday morning and watched the movie last night. Going to be honest, it’s probably the weakest of the adaptations in this franchise. I know this is probably more so an issue with the scripts writing than Rachel’s acting but I didn’t like some of the line deliveries. Lucy Gray is a performer and part of the way she was able to stay alive is her ability to charm, but the way she played Lucy Gray was too angry to the point where this girl would barely be able to hide that she had a paper cut let alone convince a narcissist like Snow that she had feelings for him. With exception of the way she performed at The Hob, her line delivery even with the songs was just off. I also think her attempts at being charming( I.e. the Capital Zoo interview) she came off as too uncanny. She looked insane specifically in that scene.

It's obviously a headcanon, guys, I'm not going to impose it on anyone, but it's something I started to realize while reading, especially through his internal dialogue. That's why in the movies that feeling, that vibe, doesn't exist for me... whereas in the books it's very latent.

I know Hollywood beauty standards and all that, but I feel like in the original trilogy the actors actually looked like everyday people. Not supermodels

Regardless of the fact that Lucy Gray is a total different role, and that Rachel is an actress, her Snow White interviews kinda ruined it for me.

Bummer too, I was so excited to watch BOSAS. But I don't mean that everyone else should be bummed because of this.

Maybe the film will be too good that we'll forget she's also playing Snow White XD

I don't like Peeta or Josh. It's not like I dislike him, but I just don't find him as attractive as everyone else seems to. Yeah, he's kind of good-looking, but I don't get this obsession with him. Also, in my opinion Peeta's character is a bit lame. It seems like in the first book/movie, the whole purpose of him was to be in love with Katniss, and except for being brainwashed by Capitol in Mockingjay, he doesn't even have a proper character development. Just a guy who loves Katniss.

That's it, now throw stones at me.

I ADORE peeta. He is my actual child. I love him to bits, but I think people really forget that Gale was a teen boy too. He was a teenager. His whole life he had seen people around him dying of starvation while the so called ‘capitol’ bathed in riches and watched his people die for their entertainment. I would hate the Capitol with a fiery rage too. Sure, some of the things he did were a little morally corrupt, but taking in his age, and literally his whole life, I don’t think we should write him off as a bad character. In the end, he was a child trying his best to protect his people and fight for what he cared for. He was smart, kind, and rightfully angry. For the ‘Prim reaper’ business, I use that term lightly too, but can we agree that he did NOT mean to harm prim or any medics on their side.

I feel like people dont discuss this nearly as much as they should. First of all you dont hear Katniss thougts in the movie so I atleast did not realise she genuinly loved him before the middle of catching fire while watching the movies.

The bread burning flashback that they play in the movie dont make his bread throwing seem as good as an action as it was in the book. In the movie hes just going out to give the pigs some bread, sees the girl who he has been in love with for a long time is starving and throws her a loaf of burnt bread which leads to him getting slapped. In the book he burned the bread on purpose so that he had a reason to give it to Katniss even tho he knew it would give him a beating.

In the book it is very clear that his only intention with the starcrossed lovers thing is to protect Katniss. While in the first movie it almost seems to me like he expressed his love to Katniss so that she would have to do sexual acts to him for sponsors which is basically prostitution.

And in catching fire when he realises Katniss does not (supposedly) love him back he is very understanding and kind about it in the book. While in the movie he acts like a jealous ass about it as if he is the victim in this. The one scene in catching fire that i absolutely HATE movie Peeta for is when him and Katniss kisses for the cameras and when they stop recording he says "i only wish that kiss was real". He did NOT say that in the book and its such an evil thing to say while Katniss is basically forced by Snow to kiss him.

I understand that he is upset over finally being with the girl of his dreams but her (supposedly) not feeling the same way for him. But while book Peeta is very sympathic towards Katniss and tries not to pressure her into anything, movie Peeta verbaly expresses his feeling in a (imo) very manipulative way while being wayyyy to self loathing about the situation.

Of course i love book Peeta and some of these points i might be looking into a bit too much. But i still stand by my claim that i absolutely DESPISE movie Peeta and i feel like im somehow alone on that.

Considering propaganda was such a giant topic it sucks a bit the book itself is a form of propaganda - Haymitch is so underdeveloped it feels like the book is about him purely bc he is beloved and the readers will absolutely want to read about him (sth the capitol literally does - uses favorites to promote their agenda), and then the fact that the book is very on the nose.

The story is a mess. Haymitch is constantly talking about people he wants to take care of - his little doves from district 6, but then he doesn absolutely nothing for them and is surprised when they die. Like, when he goesn home and everyone dies I was annoyed at him for his reaction, and like him hoping it wouldnt happen. Like in the original 3 books there was dread but it was also a given you step out of line, you pay the price. This book felt weird - Haymitch who i assumed should have been at Katniss' level of finance (both same place, both contrabandists) had a lot more luxuries. Like bonbons were a regular thing. Like if Katniss knew alcohol paid so much more than hunting I bet she'd get on it. I was half expecting the book to explain that Snow punished everyone bc of Haymitch after the games and things got worse for 12 after which is why hunger and fear are so much more prominent in the original 3 books. Also would have loved the epiloge to be Kantiss and Peeta's reaping from his perspective - show us what he tought of Effie at the start of the triology with 25 years having passed, plus his reaction at his good friend's daughter being reaped. Like the epilogue was nice, but like the book very on the nose, i think an ending right beforw the original timeline would be a bit more fiting for a darker book - we know the happy end comes, but we get to sit a bit in the darkness with him.

Yes, yes attack me but I didn’t imagine her to be beautiful. I imagined her to be ordinary ok? Cuz I was on Pinterest and I saw a fan art and commented “why does Katniss have such a big nose 💀” and the whole fandom attacked us me. Like jeez stop treating her like she’s Kylie Jenner or something like that, cuz I swear that’s what the whole fandom thinks she is, beautiful and perfect yep definitely not starving 😀👍 but fr imagined her to be a very skinny and short and not that pretty looking due to her living in very dirty conditions and having very little to no access to beauty products. So yes I didn’t imagine her to look like Kylie Jenner, I imagined her to be a very scrawny little thing.

So, early viewers are remarking that Lenore Dove does indeed have about as much screentime as Maysilee, that the arena does indeed only make up about 1/3 of the run-time.

Like book readers have been saying from day one, Lenore Dove is indeed woven through the adaptation, as ever present in the film as she is in Haymitch’s thoughts in the books.

Why this was ever considered such an implausible idea… well. There are reasons why the fandom undermined her role!

I’ve seen the casting and pictures from a few scenes and it’s just not the play.

Definitely did not picture Lucy Gray from a Appalachian-esq district to be non-white.

Definitely should of been a white actress with a somewhat southern accent that actually looked like they were into their late teens. Not mid twenties.

Mind you, I have not read Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I just made a comment in its new trailer, confused at why Lucy's outfit in the Reaping looks so fancy and out-of-place for District 12 (in fact, I am not a fan of most of the costuming during the whole trailer, but that's beside the point).

Someone condescendingly replied to me saying she's not actually from District 12 and that I'd have known that if I had read the book. However, upon trying to do some research on the matter, no source corroborates their claim. Can someone here give me an answer?

Edit: The way ya'll are downvoting me for not bowing down to this book when I literally I haven't even read it 💀 I made a simple question and ya'll are attacking me.

Honestly, I wasn't interested in reading it before, and I SURE am not any more interested now. Reddit really is that pathetic lol

Can you tell I don’t like saying certain words for literally no reason? Anyway, like the title says. There’s a lot of hormonal teenagers there, many of them certain they are going to be dead by the end, it makes sense to me that some would take their last chance if they got the opportunity. Also some could be forming bonds, and if they have a moment of safety… On another, more serious note, I think there’s also a strong possibility of SA for obvious reasons I think.

And when it does happen, does the capital broadcast it? Do they jump over to another tribute or do they keep it in? It’s not like the games are child friendly in the first place.

For a total of 5 victors.

Lucy Gray Baird - 10th Games
Unknown Victor - ? Games
Haymitch - 50th Games
Katniss and Peeta - 74th Games

After the 10th Hunger Games, all records of those games were wiped, and all traces of the name Lucy Gray Baird from District 12 were eliminated. We also know that in the districts, to make it to old age is a rarity and a cause for respect, given the conditions in most of them. 11 and 12, especially, being the poorest.

By the time of Haymitch's games, a portion of the population that was alive at the time of the 10th games would start dying out, and from the time between Katniss and Peeta were born to when they won their games, that whole generation of citizens alive at the time are extremely likely to all be dead.

Considering Panem is an authoritarian regime, I fully believe there's a 50% chance that the Capital concocted a story about another tribute from another district winning in the 10th games. Furthermore, I 100% believe there's one more victor from District 12 that we don't know about yet; in the first Hunger Games book, when Katniss was talking about District 12 only ever having 2 victors out of 73 games total, she wasn't referring to Lucy Gray and Haymitch, she was referring to Haymitch and the unknown third victor.

I think it's very likely that the third winner from District 12 won their games sometime between Lucy Gray's games and Haymitch's games, since we're able to piece together a timeline for when all the other known victors won their games.

Whoever this third victor is could potentially be the subject of a final book in what could be an entire prequel trilogy, and rounding out a District 12 saga.

Because you realize they are written almost certainly to be reminiscent of the Romani people and how hated they are in this world and now the fandom f****** hates them because apparently there existence cheapens Katniss when that's not true at all there are plenty of figures that related to each other just by coincidence like how all the US presidents are related to each other lmfao it happens in history all the time and is not unrealistic and cheapens it it's just how history works.

I really hope if we get a dark days book we get to understand exactly why they were destroyed so systematically and I'm beginning to think it's because they were major rebel sympathizers who helped in the rebellion and paid for it dearly.

I know he is everyone's favorite character, but for eFFie's Trinket sake! I can't stand him! I find him so annoying and so Mary sue even at his darkest moment. I know everyone hates Gale, but I actually understand him and everyone else. Funny thing I like every character in the universe, even snow I find him and amazing villain ( maybe cause I think of Donald Sutherland ) mmm I also quite dislike Lucy Gray know that I think about it. I might have a problem, but yes I watched the movies as young adult and took me quite a while to read the books because of 1st POV narrator, which I don't enjoy that much, at l Ast TBOSAS was 3rd and awesome 👍 My least favorite characters for whatever reason are Katniss and Peeta and while I do understand the circumstances of their lives I can't really like them, Katniss is a bit more tolerable , but Peeta was just annoying clingy little thing who waited to actually get reaped to make a move on Katniss, yeah it was in part strategy, but still....I...he just doesn't make it for me. Sorry I'm ranting I just had this thoughts for a while and wanted to let them off, since I've seen so much Gale hate for a while, don't get me wrong I don't really care about Gale but I also needed to let go of my Peeta as character opinions. Does someone feel the same or is it just me?

I first read the books/saw the movies when I was in college (a decade ago now) and I remember thinking that Katniss was asexual and aromantic; definitely more so in the books than in the movies, but I could still see it there too. So I was really disappointed when the trilogy ended with her and Peeta together. But I also always assumed that other book/movie fans felt the same way which is why I was surprised a few days ago to learn that Peeta/Katniss is like, the most popular canon THG ship. I can't find a single person who feels the same way as me so I'm just gonna put it out there now:

Maybe it's the fault of Suzanne Collins as a writer, or Jennifer Lawrence as an actress, but I never bought into the whole love story between them. I never even really got the impression that she loved Gale like that, but in any case idk. I reread the books and rewatch the movies every few years and right now I'm on my rewatch, so I can't speak as accurately to the books since it's been a while. But in the movies the script tells us that Katniss loves Peeta. Jennifer Lawrence says the lines. The characters kiss. Katniss does a lot of stuff to ensure Peeta's safety. And the whole time I'm thinking, why? In the first movie it's clear she has zero romantic feelings for this kid and is only acting because she knows it'll get her out of the Games. At no point do I see proof that that changed, so it's always really off-putting to me in both CF and Mockingjay pts. 1 & 2 when she goes to such lengths to keep him alive. I kind of wonder if it's almost a misplaced savior complex that came about because Rue died? Because on this rewatch I did notice that she started trying to save Peeta after Rue's death, which coincidentally was when Seneca announced the two victors rule.

In the books, I see it even less, because like I said she's always read as ace/aro to me. In THG when Haymitch sends her that second thing (can't remember what?) after she kisses Peeta with more... oomph, I guess, and his little note with it says "that's more like it, sweetheart" that shit has lived rent-free in my brain for 10 years, honestly. It's all an act. And again, maybe it's Suzanne Collins' fault for not being able to portray a romantic relationship growing? But that would be weird since the books are insanely well-written otherwise; some of my favorite YA dystopian literature. Though I guess every writer has their weaknesses and strengths...

But in any case, I just don't see it. So none of Katniss' decisions make sense to me, but I'm willing to go along with all of it under the assumption that she was doing it to stay alive in the first book, and then at least for part of CF (since at first she thinks they're going to have to do the victory tours and get married, etc.), and then in Mockingjay she's just... so caught up in it she can't untangle herself, and then ofc Prim dies so it probably would feed even more into her savior complex from Rue's death... idk. I just wanted to say my opinion. Hopefully someone agrees, but if not, that's cool too. It is what it is, lmao.

Also marking as spoilers just in case; idk if this counts since it's about the original trilogy but better to be safe.

I read Sunrise on the Reaping when it first came out and considered it far below the quality of the first four books, for various reasons. I just read it again to see if my opinion had changed and it's actually worse the second time. I know there have been a good number of critical reviews here so I'll try to bring up points that I haven't seen much.

Characters that don't feel like they live in Panem, a dictatorship that murders 23 children in a big pageant each year:

1. Lenore Dove is the most egregious example of a character who has clearly just dropped into D12 from a modern Western country. She paints graffiti against the Capitol, she sabotages public executions and events, she sings rebellious songs and ... she doesn't really get punished for these actions. In the original trilogy, angry young man Gale knows to only voice his disaffection to a trusted friend in the woods where no one else is listening. In Ballad, Coriolanus knows not to speak out against the system. Sejanus at least has the excuse of affluenza and he still dies for his own actions. Lenove Dove breezes through, getting those around her arrested (her sick aunt, who dies in prison), reaped (Haymitch) or inconvenienced (her uncles constantly). She's finally arrested for starting a riot. And at the end, having been released from prison, she whines about her uncles trying to ground her. If she genuinely had grown up in D12, she'd know better than to do any of this. It's like she stepped in from a society with strong free speech protections and lax law enforcement for those under 18.

2. Clerk Carmine and Tam Amber get their own entry for poor parenting. They have more experience of living in a dictatorship and fail to impress that on Lenove Dove. Even at the end, when she's been released from prison, they fail to even impose the house arrest that they promised the Peacekeepers.

3. Most of the tributes have apparently no desire or initiative to win the Hunger Games. I talk more about this below but it's worth mentioning here too. After the Newcomers band together, the mood is friendship and summer camp. None of them seem to want to win.

4. Haymitch himself gets a slight mention here for his early attitude of "Mom, I don't want to do my chores! I want to do nothing and hang out with my girlfriend!"

Flat characters

1. Again, most of the Newcomers appear to barely be characters. They have no initiative, no inner voice, no motivation or plot momentum. They are simply there to fill the numbers, join the large group of Newcomers and then die. Some are bullied by Careers and immediately rescued by Haymitch and Maysilee. One example is on p115, when the Careers steal lunchboxes from P6 and they just sit there and cry, until Haymitch comes over to offer food. Another example is on p153, when Panache breaks Kerna's sunflower necklace. She sits there and cries while her district mates gather around her. When Maysilee glues it back together, "all of 9 just stands there, speechless, letting her". These are cardboard cutouts. In the original trilogy, we get much more rounded characters who feel like they want to go on living. Even in Ballad, through the eyes of someone who views them as savages, many of the tributes get characterisation. Brandy, who gets a very brief appearance indeed, seems to have more going on in her head.

2. The Careers are cartoon high school bullies. Panache breaks windows and thrusts his genitals at other boys. Silka stabs a horse with her heel. They steal other kids' lunches and break their stuff. Panache is painfully stupid and is mocked by Caesar. It's like all the depth from Catching Fire and Mockingjay, in which we find out that Career tributes are victims of the system too, is lost.

3. Ampert and Beetee have personalities but announce their actions and motivations like an infodump to the audience. Beetee has barely spoken to Haymitch before he invites him into a rebel plot. Why does he trust Haymitch? Because Haymitch is the main character.

Out-of-character behaviour from characters

1. President Snow is the biggest example here. In Ballad, he's an arrogant young man who keeps his thoughts and secrets to himself and presents himself well to others. In the trilogy, he's an elder statesman who truly believes in the system. In SOTR, he vomits everywhere, announces that he's poisoned an incompetent lackey and spills his secrets to a random tribute. There's no reason for him to tell anyone about Lucy Gray, especially a tribute who has already done something rebellious. In fact, he should be keeping that very quiet indeed.

2. Caesar Flickerman is noted in the original trilogy to give every tribute a fair chance in his or her interview. He plays off strengths and covers for weaknesses. He's a TV personality most of all and interviews like it. In SOTR, he gleefully mocks Panache so the audience laugh at him and he lashes out. This isn't what we expect. (In Ballad, Lucky Flickerman also gives the tributes a fair chance in their interviews so it's not a new thing.)

Retcons

1. Effie Trinket really shouldn't be in this. In the original trilogy, she's clearly young and at the start of her career and blind to the faults of the system. SOTR makes her considerably older and a veteran of the Hunger Games. This has been discussed on the subreddit before so I won't go on.

2. Katniss' father Burdock was Haymitch's best friend? Really? Katniss and her family were on the brink of starvation for a while when she was eleven. Are you telling me that Haymitch didn't send an anonymous food parcel or two for his dead best friend's family?

3. The Haymitch of the main trilogy is a snarky asshole who is very intelligent under all his problems. When we see his games on tape, it's clear he won through intelligence and suffered because he mocked the Capitol. In SOTR, he has the personality of a labrador and won through luck.

Things that are missing

1. No new previous victors are mentioned, except Palladium, who is Panache's cousin. Does she appear in the text? Is she mentoring her cousin? Was he reaped to punish her? Is she being prostituted? Do we find out anything about her at all? Haha, no.

2. I'm disappointed that Chaff wasn't there. He was Haymitch's best friend by the original trilogy and it would have been nice if Chaff had been his mentor.

3. The plot to break the arena has no point to it. What does Beetee think he's going to achieve? What does Ampert think he's going to achieve? Does he think he can escape? The book kept repeating "break the arena" like that's an aim. The arena has all kinds of weird stuff happening in it. A flood is nothing.

4. Haymitch's mentoring career gets no mention at all. We breeze right past more than half his life to a neat epilogue with Katniss and Peeta that is very clearly going to be in the film. I would have read a whole book about Haymitch's mentoring career as he befriends other victors and joins the rebellion.

Other gripes

1. Everyone seems to forgot that tributes' family and friends are threatened, implicitly or explicitly. In Ballad, the tributes don't attack Coriolanus in the cage or the zoo because Lucy Gray reminds them of this. It's clear that these threats have been carried out before. In the trilogy, victors are forced into prostitution by threats to their loved ones. But Haymitch forgets all about that when he displays Louella's body and happily signs up to a rebel plot. He seems to think that, as long as he dies at the end, there will be no consequences. When Plutarch asks Haymitch why he didn't kill some Peacekeepers, he comes across as the asshole from the "And yet you participate in society" meme.

2. Having "The Raven" quoted constantly was annoying.

3. The parade of cameos was annoying. It felt like cheap lazy fanservice. If Mags had had a cameo in a "one year later" epilogue of Ballad, that would have made sense - she won the 11th games. But the appearances here of Plutarch, Mags, Wiress, Beetee, Effie, etc. were artificial.

I am 99% sure that Sunrise on the Reaping is not Suzanne Collins' work and I'm going to write a separate post about my theory. Please let me know what you think.

ETA: In retrospect, the above criticism does seem harsh, although it's still my opinion. There's plenty in the book that I liked. It's just far below the quality of the trilogy and Ballad.

I was just reading the songbirds and snakes and I saw the name Arachne Crane and then I remembered Seneca Crane and since it's too big of a coincidence for them not to be I think that they are related (sorry If this is already known but I thought it was cool and I wanted to share it)

I read Songbirds and Snakes a few years ago and now doing the audiobook before the movie.

Is it only me or Hunger Games has simply too many tributes that it becomes a problem? 🤔

The 74th Hunger Games had 24 tributes, many of them unnamed, fair. We were also introduced to Haymitch as a mentor but that's pretty much it.

Then Ballad came and you have 24 tributes and 24 mentors, add to that the Academy staff on top (Dr Gaul, Highbottom etc) along with the Capitol folks.

Overkill - I don't know about you, but I have trouble to keep up and remember, and also build a proper relationship with each character. The movie may help in associating a face to each character?

I know I know in the end it seems worth it because she ends up choosing him. But like if we’re giving dating advice to the average person, there’s like several instances where Peeta should have realized Katniss wasn’t interested or even at a place emotionally where she could even consider romance an option in her life and so Peeta sitting around and waiting desperately is an ill-advised approach romantically, and shouldn’t be replicated even if it worked out in this fictional story, right?? A healthier Peeta would have moved on, no??