I don’t really know what to make of this book. It’s very cleverly done, for sure. The parallels Collins draws between Snow and Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and the references to Hobbes, Locke and romanticism that are tied to different characters are very interesting. Although I have to admit that as a reader I hate being left in the dark so I’m a little bitter about her drawing inspiration from Wordsworth’s “Lucy Gray” and her uncertain ending.
I also noticed the use of the name Snow instead of Coriolanus in the epilogue, which was fitting because we all know what he ends up like and he’s well on his way to that at the end of this book...

At times I did enjoy the story, learning more about the history of Panem and the games and learning about Lucy Gray and discovering the origin of The Hanging Tree. That song really took on a new meaning!

But sometimes I had to force myself to keep reading because I just wasn’t rooting for the main character, which is probably normal because it’s president Snow, duh