The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins ~ Book Review
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Hello friends,
Just a quick note to let you know this is a repost of a review I wrote last year with a few little tweaks. But my thoughts about this book are pretty much the same as when I wrote this review.
ID: The book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with a green cover and a gold bird and snake on it. There a two Katniss Funko Pop figures in either side of the book.
For those that don't know, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the prequel to Suzanne Collins "The Hunger Games" series. I didn't read the THG series until after the film for Catching Fire {the second book/film} came out. Because of how it ended, I just wanted to know what happen next and the books give so much extra detail that really fill out the films. Last year I did a re-read and after each book, I watched the film for it and after doing it this way, I feel the films really compliment the books and are pretty loyal adaptations.
So when Ballad was announced, I knew I would be reading it the moment I got it as I was just so excited to return to Panem and find out more about the Hunger Games. There was barely any information about the plot other than the time it was set in relation to the main series. But then as time went on, more was revealed and it was received with mixed feelings from a lot of people. For me personally, I was still really excited to read it.
The main reason why many people weren't sure about reading it, is because it's set during the 10th Hunger Games and follows an 18 year old Coriolanus Snow, {President Snow in the main series} and many people didn't really want to read about him since he's the creepy, evil guy in the main series. I completely understand this but for me, I was actually interested to read about his younger self because in THG you see him through Katniss' eyes and I wanted to know when he began his climb to power.
Okay I'm starting to get a bit ahead of myself, so I get into my thoughts more, let me give you the synopsis from inside the book's dust jacket:
"It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 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 out charm, outwit, and outmanoeuvre 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 lower of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favour 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."
Once I read the synopsis, I felt even more intrigued to read the book and like I said, I didn't regret it at all.
The book is written in a strange third person narrative which, I admit threw me a bit when I began reading. I was hoping for first person but once I got into the book, I didn't mind it so much and felt it did suit the storyline more and gave me a feeling of being an onlooker. In hindsight, I'm not sure I'd really want to be "inside Snow's head" anyway.
It's broken up into three parts; Before the Games, the Games and after the Games. The third part comes with a bit of a plot twist, which didn't even occur to me until it happened. This was actually nice as I often find myself guessing plot twists for most of the books I read. But I think I was just enjoying being back in Panem so much that the thought of what happened didn't cross my mind until I read it. Though when the twist happens, I immediately made a connection to something mentioned in the first film that comes out during a conversation between President Snow and someone else.
ID: Louise’s hand holding the book, The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes without the dust jacket. The book is yellow with an illustration of a black snake on it.
I found it fascinating to see Snow interact with family members, his peers, his teachers and his general attitude toward others. He's also not the only character from the main series to be featured in Ballad and I had a bit of a "no way!" moment when this other character is mentioned. Though it has left me wanting to know more regarding certain things centred around this character and Snow. There's also a familiar surname and another familiar name that are mentioned, but I won't mention who as I don't want to spoil anything.
I also enjoyed the history aspect of Ballad. The stark contrasts between the 74th Games featured in the first book and the 10th one is quite eye opening. There's a lot of moral and ethical discussion surrounding the Games as well, especially as these ones are only 10 years after the "Dark Days" ~ the first uprising against the Capitol. But it's from the 10th Games that things begin to change and you can pick up on certain features in their beginning stages that seem to be the norm by the 74th ones. We also find out who came up with the idea of the Games and meet one of them, which is really interesting.
So if you're not wanting to read Ballad because you feel it's been written to make you feel sorry for Snow or it's to give him some redemption from the main series, then you have nothing to worry about. Any moment that you might ever so slightly begin to feel sorry for him, it's quickly wiped away because of his motives for everything he's doing and I came away disliking him even more than when I finished THG series.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and re-reading the main series again after this one, I felt filled out President Snow's character more and his whole attitude toward Katniss and the Districts. So if you did enjoy The Hunger Games series, then maybe pick this one up if you haven't done so yet. Please don't be put off by it being about Snow but don't go into it thinking it's going to be another Catching Fire {the best book of the main series in my opinion anyway} because then you will come away disappointed.
So I hope that the odds will be in your favour if you do decide to read this book!
Stay Safe. Read a Book!
L x
