The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
⭐⭐⭐
FICTION · ROMANCE · ACTION
Where’s the Story We Were Promised?
As a longtime fan of The Hunger Games series, I couldn’t wait to dive into The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Ever since I first read The Hunger Games back in 2018, I was hooked, and captivated by the brutal world of Panem, Katniss Everdeen’s fierce resilience, and the dark political web woven by President Snow.
When I heard that a Hunger Games prequel was being adapted into a movie, I was thrilled. Naturally, I started reading it right away. At first, it met my expectations. Suzanne Collins knows how to build tension and craft compelling characters. But the deeper I got, the more conflicted I felt.
Let’s start with the positives. The book does offer a fascinating look into a younger Coriolanus Snow, a character we’ve always known as cold, calculating, and brutal. Seeing his transformation from a struggling student of the Capitol to a future dictator is, at times, chilling and compelling.
His internal conflict, his complicated feelings toward Lucy Gray, and his slow descent into ambition-fueled paranoia are portrayed in detail. You can see the man he becomes taking shape, piece by piece.
The writing is sharp, and the themes of control, image, and survival are still very much alive. As a dystopian novel, there’s no denying that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a well-written book.
Despite those strengths, I couldn’t help but feel let down. Like many fans, I went into this book expecting real answers. We knew from the original trilogy that Coriolanus poisoned his way to the top. We knew he and Tigris were once close, only to end up estranged. We expected to see those crucial moments.
Instead, the book lingers too long on the early days of the Hunger Games, which overshadow the more intriguing political rise of Snow. It felt like the story circled the edges of what I wanted rather than diving into the heart of it.
In conclusion, yes, I was disappointed. But would I read it again? Absolutely. I wouldn’t recommend this book for how “good” it is on its own, but for what it represents in the Hunger Games universe. It’s a must-read for fans who want to understand the full arc of Coriolanus Snow, even if it leaves some key questions unanswered.
The plot
A prequel to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tells the coming-of-age story of future president and villain Coriolanus Snow. Published by Scholastic Press in 2020, this young adult dystopian/soft sci-fi novel depicts an earlier Panem, the fictional country in which the annual Hunger Games take place, and details the contest’s cruel evolution. As introduced in the first three books and four film adaptations, the Games force a total of 24 young men and women to fight to the death. The last survivor secures ample food and riches for their impoverished district—hence the moniker “Hunger” Games. This contest serves as both punishment and reparation to the all-powerful Capitol: The 12 districts each sacrifice two of their children, one boy and one girl, as the blood price of their failed rebellion.
