Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

-Originally published on July 15, 2020-

I am very open about my… dislike of Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. However, I am so entranced by the world of Panem that I would read a book about each of the first 73 Hunger Games. That’s why when Suzanne Collins announced that she would be releasing a prequel to the series, I knew I had to give it another shot.

And boy did she come through with this one.

My dislike of Mockingjay and the early reviews that I read left me with very low expectations going into the book. The book takes place during the 10th Hunger Games, and follow Coriolanus Snow during his time as a student mentor at the games. Coriolanus Snow is the President of Panem in the original trilogy. The book explores the war that led to the Hunger Games as well as the first years of the Hunger Games and life in the Capitol.

I really don’t understand the dislike of this book. Many people say that it was boring or that they weren’t interested in the character of Coriolanus. Personally, I felt compelled to keep reading and learn about the dimensions of yet another character in this interesting world.

I really felt that Collins created a solid backstory for a character that is known for being evil and devious. And yes, he is the antagonist of Katniss’ trilogy. However, I think it is always interesting to see where an ‘evil’ character comes from and his motivation. Reading this book led me to better understand his actions. Once again, I think that Collins does a great job of blurring the lines between good and evil, which is one of the things that makes the world of Panem so compelling.

It also creates an interesting look at how the world of Katniss’ trilogy comes to be, with the inclusion of references to future characters and nuances, which as a sucker for a good dystopian prequel, I appreciate.

I also found that this book really cleared up the reasoning behind and the perceived ‘necessity’ of the Hunger Games to the people of Panem. In the Katniss trilogy, it can be hard to understand how the war affected everyone and why they might want to continue the horrible practices of the Games. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes shows the after-effects of the war through the teenagers who grew up during the battle.

So, should you read it? Short answer, yes. But here’s the long answer.

If you read/watched the Hunger Games because everyone was reading it and it is just another dystopian novel to you, you might not love this book. It may be a lot of details and nuances that you didn’t care to know about.

However, if you find the world of Panem interesting and want to know more about the characters, and especially if you found Catching Fire the most interesting book (as I did), you’ll likely enjoy this book. It gives backstory, character development and understanding to a lot of the events and decisions in the book.

Overall, I really loved this book and definitely felt an absence in my life when I finished it.

Have you read this book? What would you rate it?