Book Review | The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

By Suzanne Collins

Scholastic  |  2020  |  528 pages

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual 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 outcharm, 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 lowest 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.

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Okay, so just for the record, I never bothered to read this because I thought, ew why would I want to see even a slither of Snow’s thoughts and history. 

But, I was so pleasantly surprised. 

Not in a good way like… I still despise Snow but I am glad I read this after all.

I chose to read this one because Sunrise on the Reaping was coming out and I was a bit like… should I or shouldn’t I bother reading this one first. I thought this book would be helpful to prep and set me up for Haymitch’s story and I feel glad I did read it. 

It was like I got catapulted back into the world of Panem and The Hunger Games. I read the trilogy within 3 days when I was a teenager and became obsessed. I watched the films and have rewatched them probably almost as many times as I have watched the Twilight movies and if anyone knows me, they would know that means a lot of times.

I love the political themes of The Hunger Games trilogy and not love in a way like… oh wow that’s amazing. I just loved how Suzanne Collins manages to put into fiction what is such a true reflection of the real world and becoming more and more similar as the years have passed.

The fact this book was released in 2020 and yet, feels like something that is so closely knitted to our real world is insane. 

This book was no different for me; it brought back that sense of the way the world is and how nations can be led by dictating ways and systems. 

It was really interesting to me in this book how a series of scenes happened where in a normal sense, you would be rooting for Snow or like… if this wasn’t the character we all know and hate, you would almost see their perspective.

And yet, in this book, not once did I feel even a speck of emotion for him. The fact he comes from a place of power and wealth and has fallen into hard times where he is desperate to regain is all did not move me in the slightest and I don’t think it is meant to but…

Snow talks continuously about how hard his family has had it since the dark days and in my head, all I could think was… my guy, this is nothing compared to the districts. Also, he does nothing in this book where I think oh yeah, you’re redeemed and should get your luxurious life back.

He gets defensive every single time the war and the rebellion is mentioned, saying that the Capitol lost people too and they struggled too, blaming the districts because ‘They rebelled’ and it made me so angry that this is genuinely how some people in the real world would look on a similar situation whereas I think the actual response should be, well why did they rebel? Oh that’s right because you were dictating their lives and oppressing them and controlling them and now you’re surprised they fought back? 

I just found it so mad how the mindset of Snow never sways from that. He had moments where he says that The Hunger Games is bad but never once does he actually seem to get it, y’know?

And I know some people may read my review and be like okay but it’s fiction. But, we all know it’s not. I can think of several real world scenarios that align eerily similarly to the real world and I’m sure you can too.

Anyway, meeting Lucy Gray was a treat and honestly, I wish the book had shown more of Lucy Gray. I know, I know… it’s Snow’s story but I really wanted to know more of her, to be honest.

It was really odd to read a Hunger Games book with the focus on the person who is not actively inside the arena. So, for that reason, it was a bit less action packed (well, until the end anyways) for me personally. 

Mainly, I loved this book for the fact it is a bit of a fan service. But, I was left a bit confused… I get that Snow ends up the way he ends up but… there were so many moments in the book where he didn’t feel like he believed in the games as much as others of Panem?

Then, of course, at the end he is very much for the games continuing and all that but… it felt like a bit of a jump. And, I found it funny that he made this leap into total hatred for the rebels and districts because Lucy Gray runs from him. 

I don’t know… honestly, my brain is now slightly foggy on finer details as I read it at least a week ago and immediately watched the movie afterwards so I think I’ll just finish up without going too in depth. Lmao, this is why I am so serious when I say I need to immediately write reviews for the books I read after I’ve read them - I forget the details so damn quickly.

I loved the look into the history of Snow to see his backstory and why he does start to lean towards the absolute tyrant he turns into when we initially meet him in the original trilogy. And I loved learning about Lucy Gray and the covey and I also really love that she is basically a form of Katniss but like 60 years earlier. 

I do still believe that Lucy Gray is out there somewhere and I do not for a second believe Snow actually managed to kill her and those are the beliefs I am sticking to. Also, when we’re comparing book and movie adaptations… I honestly did not like the film. It sucked in comparison to the book.

I love that I also now know where The Hanging Tree story and song came from. As soon as it started to click, I was literally kicking my feet like oh my goshhh.

I know the films always miss out stuff for the movie adaptations but my God, I really did not care for the movie. It cut out way too much stuff in my opinion. But, hey ho, this is a book review, not a movie review.

Overall, I give it 4.5 because I didn’t love it as much as the originals because Snow is a piece of shit but also, I just didn’t vibe with it the same. But, I still love it enough to give it such a high rating because I am biased and it is still part of The Hunger Games series and in it’s own right, it is a solid read.