The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

By: Suzanne Collins

“Snow lands on top.”

Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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Overview:

Coriolanus Snow is days away from his life falling apart. His once prestigious family has fallen on hard times and without entry to a University program, they will loose everything.

The only way for him to earn enough money for tuition, is to do well as one of the mentors for the 10th annual Hunger Games. But his bad luck continues when he is assigned the female tribute from district 12, a candidate that does historically awful in past games.

Determined to change his narrative, Coriolanus must decide how far he’s willing to go and where his loyalties lay.

His ideas and actions will change the games forever.

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My thoughts:

I think the reason that we got this story and not the story of the first hunger games is because this was the birth of the modern games that Katniss is forced to play. The history behind why they are the way they are and not just a battle royal (reference intended) is explained and the building of this is explored more than the reason that Snow left the girl he loved.

In the future, I would have liked to have a novel that goes over the hunger games from other victors that we meet during the original trilogy. A book about Haymitch and what he goes through and the behind the scenes of him being a rebel, would be fascinating.

The Brutality of the Games…

This is only 10 years after a war in which people were doing anything to stay alive. The people of the Capital are desensitized to the games’ brutality becasue they have seen and done worse.

The Hunger Games was of course, about 24 children killing each other but the deaths were not as visual as these. Most deaths were off to the side and not described. Snow is present for nearly every death so we get them described in detail.

Also, the fact that the Capital uses the corpses of the tributes to make their point is an extra level of graphic. Not to mention the head Gamemaker, Dr. Gaul is doing let’s just say World War II style experiments on people openly in her lab.

Coriolanus Snow as a Character…

The entire book, I was waiting for a catalyst to explain who he becomes later in the series. This never happened.

The switch from Snow being a caring person to willing to literally kill the girl he thinks he loves, was abrupt and would have been more effective if it had built throughout the story. Had Lucy Gray done little things to press him until he realized that he wasn’t willing to give up his life, would have been more effective.

He Immediately caves the second he finds the guns that implicate him. A little discomfort for a few hours in the woods and he realizes that he likes nice things and couldn’t possibly live like an uncivilized person.

Lucy Gray, the Victor…

Within the first few pages of The Hunger Games, we are told that there have only ever been two Victors from district 12, Haymitch and one other person that is long gone. Lucy Gray Baird is that second person.

Right away Lucy Gray is a colorful character in a drab muted world. I would not be wearing a colorful dress when blending in is the difference between life and death but she takes the chance fully knowing that she may be picked while wearing that rainbow dress.

Lucy Gray seems to have genuine feelings for Snow but is also smart enough to know that she needs him to survive. Everything she does is calculated and they honestly would have been a good match for each other if they had the same goals.

The big issue I had with Lucy Gray is the idea that the songs from The Hunger Games Series originate from her or her troupe. Doesn’t seem very likely. She writes the hanging tree song and somehow it still gets passed down for 64 years? Snow banned performing almost immediately. It is highly unlikely it is widely known after all that time without any change.

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Overall,

It’s a story that didn’t need to be told. I would have loved this effort to have been put towards other Hunger Game stories that focused on other tributes that we have met throughout the series.

Rating: 3/5 stars