The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) (The Hunger Games)

4.5 stars Amazon delivered my copy early, so I'm going to do a spoiler free review and then a spoilery one. Pardon if this winds up sounding like an English paper. I have thought so much on the morals and questions in this book that I feel like I should have read this in school. Note: I'm writing this review with the express belief that you, reader, have at least read the book description. Otherwise why are you reading this review? I want to start this off by saying two things. One, this is not a hero story. Snow is never once, in my opinion, shown to be a hero in this in what we modern folks would call a hero. He's no Luke Skywalker or redeemed villain. This isn't some sob backstory to explain "why the bad guy is bad." This is yet another set of layers to the onion that is Snow. Second, this book is dark. It's been a minute since I read the original trilogy, but I swear it wasn't quite as graphic as this book was. Cannibalism is mentioned, and it's shown/talked about that someone sawed the leg off a dead woman and ran off with it. One character is killed then hung on a hook and paraded. Another is also gruesomely displayed after their death. Several characters are dragged through processions to "prove a point," another character is hung from two large poles and left to basically die in the sun. Multiple accounts of vomiting/poison throughout, and a general unpleasantness at the lack of regard for human life. Non-spoilery review: This book makes you think. A lot. It makes you question things, and wonder if maybe Snow is right (he's not), but it's written in such a way that he's not a villain. Donald Sutherland in an interview made a great point in saying that Snow isn't a villain, he's just a ruthless man doing what he thinks is right to keep his home and country in one piece. "He does it so well. And he doesn't think he's a bad person. He thinks it's the only way society can survive. And whether you think he's right or wrong, he doesn't think he's bad. He likes himself." This should be the mantra for this book. Snow is a conflicting, flawed human. In our society, he's evil, a sociopath or a psychopath. He's a murderer and a killer. He's a bad guy. In his world, he's one of the masses. He simply lives as he's been raised to, with a mentality that has been ingrained in him since the war between the Districts and the Capitol. He's simply more ruthless then most and has the guts to make what he considers the "hard decisions." Regardless of the other characters in this, they're all props to his story--which fits well with the Snow we know from The Hunger Games. Everyone is second stage to Snow and his life. This is his evolution from being a child to a man, to becoming the Snow we know and love/hate. I definitely don't think this book is for everyone. I'm sitting here with my mom breathing down my neck because she can't wait to read it, and I don't think she'll like it at all, and she's a diehard THG trilogy fan. Why? Because not everyone likes to read depressing books. There's no redemption in this. There's no saving someone from themselves. This is the fall, stumble, plummet into being a not great person and embracing it fully. So take that as you will. Full spoilers below about everything. P.s. This is a standalone. SPOILERS BELOW Okay, so, I was worried about this book when I read the first chapter sample and it got announced that Snow would be training the District 12 girl. I thought, oh crap, it's gonna be a cliche YA. It's gonna have a stupid romance that undercuts the whole plot and makes him a sap. And yeah, it did that, and up until the last 50 pages I was teetering on a 3-3.5 stars. And then oh boy, the end. Lucy Grey was a sweet girl, but she felt off since the beginning. I still can't fully put my finger on it, but her and Snow's relationship felt so <i>wrong</i> the entirety of the book. The red flags went up repeatedly every time he made comments about how she was his, and even so far as to say she was his property, and that's all kinds of wrong. And even though their romance was cute and fluffy, it felt bad, tainted. You knew something was going to happen. It always does in these villain backstories. Usually the whole reason the villain is bad is because the love interest gets brutally killed and then they're like whelp, guess I'll just be evil. Not in this book. Snow constantly struggles with morality and right and wrong throughout this. Should he turn in his friend to the Capitol because they're colluding with rebels and could tear down the (flawed) infrastructure? Or should he turn a blind eye and let his friend do his own thing? Is the Hunger Games wrong or good? Is it wrong to view the District people as second class humans? And so on. This book broaches the topic of racism in very broad terms with the whole District/Capitol thing. You've always known there was a divide between them, but in this, you really see how much the Capitol looks down on the Districts, and you can easily see how that morphs into such a hatred and distaste by the time Katniss first enters the Hunger Games. But I digress. Snow struggles with morality, but he's flawed and very, very imperfect. He rationalizes every death he takes as self-defense or some other reason when really he's just murdered someone because it's inconvenient for him. He kills (or at least removes her from the picture; it's ambiguous) Lucy Grey in the end because she's a loose end and too free. He does it. Not someone else, not some freak accident. He chooses to do it and, by the time it happens, you already know what direction he's headed in so it's not quite another nail in the coffin. It fully feels like him tying up loose ends so he can go do whatever he wants. All the nods to THG characters and names was cool. You also had a lot of The Great Gatsby vibes in the Old Money versus New Money mentality that a lot of the Capitol had with District people who gained a fortune and bought their way into the Capitol life. They're looked down upon by the old families and viewed as trash. You saw a lot of the evolution in the Hunger Games, and you can see how it begins to change and grow into what Katniss and Peeta suffered through. You see how it begins to change from a simple punishment to a sport and a holiday, with the growing encouragement that it should be a normal and good thing. You also see a side of the Capitol you most definitely did not see in the trilogy--suffering. A lot of the book shows Snow struggling with having been a small child living through the Dark Days and the war. He was 8 when the Capitol won, and even then it was hard. You learn about the hell the Capitol lived through as they were besieged by the Districts' army and forced to ration, starvation, and cannibalism. It's a hard picture, and it's so blatantly told. Collins didn't hold back any punches in this. I never felt like what was done was for shock and awe for the reader, but it was definitely that for the story, and it made sense. Regardless of the Capitol not being at war with the Districts anymore, the tensions were still so high that it makes sense for the Capitol to overreact in their retaliation of events. So when one mentor gets killed by her tribute, they shoot the tribute and parade her body around on a hook at the mentor's funeral. It's disgusting, debasing, and shows how much the Capitol views the Districts as nothing more than rodents or livestock. Anyway, I'll stop talking. Go read it yourself. It's a hard read, a heavy read, but it was very, very enjoyable.

"The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is a brilliant and captivating prequel to The Hunger Games series. Suzanne Collins does a phenomenal job of expanding the world of Panem and exploring the backstory of one of the most iconic villains, Coriolanus Snow. Why I Loved It: Rich Storytelling: The world-building is fantastic, diving into the early days of the Hunger Games and the ruthless political climate of Panem. The intricate details and dark themes make this a compelling read. Complex Characters: Coriolanus Snow is an interesting and morally gray character in this prequel. Watching his transformation from a privileged student to a cunning and dangerous leader is fascinating. Themes of Power and Survival: This book explores the corrupting influence of power, ambition, and survival in a way that adds layers of depth to the world of The Hunger Games. Emotional and Thought-Provoking: The relationship between Snow and the tributes, particularly Lucy Gray, is complex and filled with emotional tension, making for a captivating and heartbreaking read. Perfect for Fans of the Original Series: If you loved The Hunger Games, this prequel is a must-read. It not only enriches the backstory but also provides a fresh perspective on the events that shape the world we know. "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is a thrilling and dark exploration of power, loyalty, and betrayal. Suzanne Collins' ability to draw readers in with complex characters and tense storytelling is unmatched. Highly recommend for fans of The Hunger Games and those who enjoy a gripping dystopian tale!

The book was not great, nor very exciting or realistic. But if you are a Hunger Games fan, you really do have to read it. Suzanne Collins is a good writer, so I did find myself compelled by her words and found it often hard to put the book down. That said, there were a few things that felt forced in the storyline, and the timeline felt a little off. For example, the games were going on for 10 years already, and they were only just getting around to working out the bugs. Also, by the time Katniss came along, the games had been in effect for 75 years. That would make Snow something like 85 years old. He wasn't described as that old in the Hunger Games series. And in this book, Panem did not have the advanced technology they had 60 years later. However, this seems wrong since Panem is already far into "our" future. So shouldn't they already have the holograms and high tech gadgets? Things I liked: It was interesting to see the Hunger Games from the earlier days when tributes were treated more like animals than celebrities, and the arena was an actual arena, like in a bull fight. The idea that there were vagabonds throughout Panem, who weren't part of any district. The idea that in the old days, not all the tributes made it to the games. (Though I think they'd have worked that out in 10 years.) I loved Lucy Gray Baird. I liked the appearance of Tigris. Snow's transformation from a reasonable human being to an obsessive deviant. What I did not like: While I did like the district 12 tribute (Lucy), she wasn't very realistic. She was too cheerful for someone who wasn't even from the districts and got thrown into their bizarre death ritual. The misconception that Snow was poor and hungry. In the first few pages, they try to depict Snow as someone who hadn't eaten in days, someone who rarely has anything but cabbage soup. Then suddenly his cousin shows up with potatoes and veggies and they ate pretty well. From then on, Snow ate ALL THE TIME. He was always eating. The tributes were also eating all the time. It seemed like no one ever went hungry, even though the narration implied that everyone was poor and starving. The never-ending page after page of singing. This is the worst thing to put in a book. You can't read a song! I don't know the music and I don't feel like making up a tune to go with pages worth of someone else's lyrics. How annoying! This was so obviously Suzanne Collins setting the book up to be a movie. Annoying. Oh and how about some of the songs that just happened to be the ones Katniss sang later. Really? This is a play on OUR future. No one has a David Bowie song stashed somewhere? Despite my dislikes, I am glad I read it and I think if you are a fan, you should definitely read. Don't expect great Hunger Games characters or even much of a storyline. Think of it as a bit of supplemental info on a great trilogy.

Although I found snow insufferable and genuinely felt anger reading him devolve into a cruel and selfish person, I was pressed by the author's ability to make him so unlikeable. There are moments you really do feel he could have been a better person but we all know how it ends. I loved learning about the creation of the hunger games and how laws and structures became what they are in the later years. I do wish we had the tiniest info on Lucy's life afterward, but it truly.is the ballad she's named after.

Compared to the original Hunger Games trilogy, this book has a very different feel. But how could it not be, centered as it was on the backstory of President Snow? Katniss is a protagonist that readers feel for, a perhaps imperfect person but one who garners compassion and care. Snow as a protagonist is somehow still the villain most of the time. That's a delicate balance to maintain, but the author does so beautifully. To know Snow in his younger years gives a much better understanding of the man he is in the main trilogy. We see him living in the Capitol in the post-war era, not long after the war ended. The Capitol is but a shade of what it is in Katniss' time, even Snow living in near destitution. In contrast to the man he becomes, it's eye-opening to see that there is more to him than the cruelty he embodies. In his youth, he's clearly consumed by the once power of his family, consumed with the Snow family name. It's made him ruthlessly ambitious, very entitled, and incredibly arrogant. Dangerous qualities when combined with a sharp intelligence. But even with these faults, he's not yet the man he becomes. In TBoSaS, he still has some humanity in him... the capacity to love and care for his family, the capacity for friendship, the capacity to love, even the ability to sacrifice for others. But we also see all that begin to fade, the precursor to the man in power later. The complacency that Capitol citizens feel about the Games is still in the early stages, but you can see it beginning to form. It was also fascinating to learn more about the specifics behind the creation of the Games, the twisted minds and reasoning behind them. I definitely can understand why some Hunger Games fans might not like this, but for me, the negatives really made the story more interesting for me. If Snow had been portrayed as a kinder, more compassionate person, it would have felt like the origin story of a different character. I respected the reality that he was never that person, even if he, at least for a time, was not the man he later becomes.

In many ways, this prequel is a mirror of the original trilogy. The first part is great. Like the "Hunger Games", I found myself instantly captivated by the story, which is somewhat surprising because I was a little leery of a prequel. Since it’s been a good ten years since “Mockingjay”, I told myself the author truly had something new to add to her iconic series, but I wasn’t convinced. The final book in the trilogy was a disaster, and I didn’t have a lot of hope. But the first part of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” far surpassed my expectations. I was very impressed by how Suzanne Collins humanized a villain while still making it clear that he has very deep flaws that he doesn’t seem inclined to work past. Some of the authority figures seemed very cartoonish, but otherwise, I really enjoyed the first part. SPOILER ALERTS I’m not warning again. I’m going to get into spoilers from here on out, so if you haven’t read the book and don’t want any surprises, please don’t read any further. Just as in the second book of the original trilogy, the second part of this book gets better and better and then abruptly ends in a completely unbelievable way. The main character is punished because he bent the rules of the Hunger Games, even though there weren’t any actual rules set. None of it makes sense; based on the background and setup, why wouldn’t Coriolanus be hailed as the brilliant genius he actually was, even if some of his genius was accidental? “Catching Fire” had a bad ending that didn’t make much logical sense. Instead, it felt like the author was forcing the story to fit a preordained plot. And the same is true for the second part of “Ballad”. It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s actually very irritating. But then comes the third part, and everything falls apart, just like in “Mockingjay”. Collins is the very definition of an author that can’t even remotely nail the ending. Almost the entirety of the third and final part of this book feels like it’s all driven by a plot instead of happening naturally. Almost none of the events in the final part feel organic; instead, it feels like you’re reading a “this happened, then this happened, then this happened” story that can’t breathe or flow. I liked the idea that we never really knew if Lucy Gray was an innocent or a deceiver. Personally, I believe she was an innocent, but that’s me, LOL. And I like that Collins resisted the urge to make up stupid “origins” for the motifs behind the trilogy. Yes, she mentions roses and mockingjays, but for the most part she resists Easter eggs. But the ending was rushed and extremely disappointing. In the span of a few pages, a main character is killed, evidence of a murder is extremely conveniently found in a remote cabin, and Coriolanus’ sudden distrust of Lucy comes out of nowhere and just feels like a plot device to allow the author to finish the book she’s so clearly ready to be done with. Just like “Mockingjay”, the final part of “Ballad” feels like Suzanne Collins was ready to be finished and move on to something else. I was almost two thirds of the way through “Ballad” when I told my sister I thought it was the best book in the series by far. By the end, I realized I’d probably never read it again. I’m not some expert critic or anything. I know what I like and I know what I don’t. But I feel like this book, just like the ending of book two and the entirety of book three of the original trilogy, ended up being plot over substance. It didn’t feel natural or real, it felt forced and unsatisfying. And the ending; has there ever been a more contrived happily ever after? I did not care for this book. And I’m extremely disappointed because the first two thirds or so were so good bordering on amazing.

I am in awe of Suzanne, really and truly. Its been a long time since I have read a series that was able to keep me engaged the way the Hunger Games has. She is so subtly direct that reveals feel like diving into concrete. The way she manages several complex characters fascinates me!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! (‼️SPOILER ALERT ‼️) •°☆ Potential Birth Chart for Snow☆°• Gemini Rising - Witty, Adaptable, Charming, and Intelligent. This just made the most sense to me bc he is very good at managing people. Air sign duality makes him constantly at war with himself about his ideals. Narrow / Limited viewpoint in comparison to his Sag 7th house. Cap Sun - Winter baby (duh). Highly ambitious and heavily concerned with what he owns / is owed by others. Obsessive fixation on authority, power, and the structures that maintain them. Gemini Rising makes this the 8th house of inheritance. HEAVY father themes , he inherits his fathers ideals. Also looks like his father / is compared to him often. Father was absent but present in his life spiritually (and ultimately who he fell in line with at the end). Cancer 2nd house are the values from his mother who was physically more present in his life but he inherently repressed to adapt to the world of Panem. (?) Moon - I Initially clocked him as a Cap moon but that has shifted back and forth since I finished the book! My guess would be either Aqua, Scorpio, or Virgo moon. Im leaning Virgo only because its a weak point for the moon but still a (traditionally) feminine sign. Snow has some kind of empathy that people can see and he believes to be genuine. This placement screams "I have no choice / im only doing this for YOUR own good!" when he certainly does have many other choices 💀. I think this would also add more weight to his mercury (im thinking libra) wherever it might be in his chart. The attention to detail, critical attitude towards others choices, obsession, and self serving nature just fits to me. Also this would be his 4th house of ancestry, roots, and family which are one of the primary influences he uses to make his decisions. I can see a solid case for scorpio but I personally think its too much water for him. He is very dry and decisive which screams earth sign to me. Same with Aqua (especially with a moon in the 9th) but that 4th house is just a sweet spot to me idk.

I love good origin stories. And whether we like it or not, the origins of villains are often more compelling than those of heroes. Such is the case here. I bought the book on a whim since I had so enjoyed the Mockingbird Book Series and the Hunger Games Films. When it arrived, it did a quick scan and it failed to catch my attention. Many months later......rainy cold day......nothing much going on.....and I picked it up. And fell right into it. The voice/perspective in the books and the films is feminine. In "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" it is masculine. As a man I found that voice quite compelling. What makes a "bad one" a "bad one." Snow, in the Hunger Games, is an awful, vicious, manipulator who claims to be both the Master and Savior of Panem. He is, in fact, neither. His sole purpose is to stay on top. How did he get that way? The Ballad tells the tale. Collins paints a portrait of a young man born into the most fortunate of families that has fallen on very hard times. What is particularly intriguing is that Coriolanus Snow as an earnest, generally kind, family man who is trying his best to give his family a future. There is something quite noble about him as he works so hard for others......but at its root all of this is all about the "him" who he believes he was intended to be- the wealthy, powerful, influencer that his father had been. What we experience is a series of events that gradually reorient Snow's internal compass pointing him toward a future where his seeming nobility has been set aside in favor of a deeply committed selfishness disguised as the duty a true patriot owes to his homeland. The twists and turns in the storyline provide the reader the reader with the opportunity to understand the origin of the Hunger Games, the workings of Panem society and the life of the patrician and plebeian class that live there. It is fascinating. We experience the story from the top looking down vs. the approach of the Hunger Games books where the perspective is from the bottom looking up. The last chapters are chilling presaging how far down the dark path a once noble young man is willing to go. It is in the last chapters, however, that the author appears to cut the narrative short at a time when further details about Snow's sudden change of heart and mind would have been welcome. It all seems a bit rushed at the end..... Still, I would be happy to read the next volume in the saga if it were to come into being. That is probably my highest recommendation.

Bough this book just out of curiosity with no expectation - well, I literally couldn’t stop reading it! The writing is simply amazing, sending the reader into the story. 100% recommended!!! Book quality is ok and delivery was on time, as expected.

Toujours dans la même veine que les premiers hunger games, encore un roman qui fait la part belle aux subtilités psychologiques humaines plutôt que de se satisfaire de personnages caricaturaux. S’intégre très bien à la série : j’adore !

I loved the hunger games but this prequel book is something else, you end up loving Snow until you realize how he ends up for him, but still, lots of cliff-hangers which made it an excellent story, hope they don't screw it up with the movie

Inga skav eller liknande när boken kom hem. Är så taggad på att läsa den, Hunger Games fick mig att komma in i läsandet så ska bli spännande! Jag såg filmen förra året så har höga förväntningar på boken nu🫣

Love this book, great condition as well.