The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins Series: The Hunger Games #0
Published by Scholastic on May 19, 2020
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 517
Format: Hardback
Source: Own Copy
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
So I have been debating my opinion of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for a while. As you know I love and adore The Hunger Games. And so I was super excited to read this book. Because I basically thought that it would be a simple retelling of The Hunger Games. And at that point in time I wasn’t entirely fussed if it was a rip off of the original trilogy.
Also just to give you heads up, I am presuming that you have read The Hunger Games. So while I will try to advise spoiler they may occur because some info should be general knowledge.
However, it was nothing like I was expecting and that it when the uncertainty occurred. I really wanted to know what made President Snow who he was. Where he came from and how he became who he was. I thought that we were going to get to all the stories alluded to by Finnick in Mockingjay. Instead we get way before that time.
I mean, it was interesting learning about how The Hunger Games actually developed. But in the end this book was less about the games and more about the making of President Snow. And what makes him tick. There was a lot of psychological debate that went on. At times it got a bit tedious. I definitely needed more action!
This book made me ask more questions than I got answered. And I felt that even though this book was super long more could have been said. Perhaps so another book could be written?
However despite this and despite the predictability of the story (c’mon you must have read the synopsis) The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was an enjoyable read. For starters I was hooked, wondering how Snow would sort himself out. And secondly I could not put this down.
I was intrigued from the start. And I feel like my expectations got the better of me which is why the book felt slight flat. But despite this I would probably read this again… at some point.
Leave a Reply