The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
(Format used for this read: Print—hardback)
I was a HUGE Hunger Games fan, yall.
Which really kinda surprised me.
Even though yall know I am TOTES into YA books…ESPECIALLY ones that are series…I am NOT into lots of violence…ESPECIALLY when there are kids involved (that goes into the same “I AIN’T GONNA READ IT” category for me as scary books)
Hunger Games had all kinds of violence….I mean it was about KIDS KILLING EACH OTHER IN AN ARENA….but it did not turn me away.
There was plenty of the other things in the books that I really enjoy …romance, BA female heroes, rebellion against oppressive injustices, and dystopian societies…plus just really enticing and exciting storytelling…so even with the violence, I was SUUPERR into the books.
When the movies came out I was HELLA jazzed and got super into those as well. (although to be honest, I’m STILL a bit salty of their casting of Katniss….Jennifer Lawrence was NOT HOW I PICTURED HER AT ALL…I mean, she did fine I guess but I just envisioned her COMPLETELY different)
And then when my oldest hit middle school age, he became a fan too. (It is FOR REAL is one of my supreme life joys to share book love with my kids!)
The *second* I heard that there was a prequel to these books for sale, I ordered it IMMEDIATELY.
I didn’t even know what it was about….but I knew I just HAD TO READ IT.
Here is the official summary for you:
“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 outmaneuver 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 favor 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.”
First let me say that this book is NOT a stand alone novel, yall.
If you haven’t read the Hunger Games trilogy (or even just watched the moves), you won’t really get the significance of all that happens..
What this book is about really is evolution.
The evolution of how the Hunger Games got to be the big, elaborate must see TV event for people in the Capitol. (while remaining horrific and terrifying for those who abide in the Districts)
The evolution of Corionlanus Snow from troubled young man into the powerful and nefarious leader of all of Panem.
The author really has you going thru all kinds of emotions for Snow as you get to know him as a teen…you see the inner struggles he has to do right by his family, to serve his community, and how he wrestles on choosing to follow his heart, his conscious, his mind, or his logic.
You go into this book already hating him because of what we know he becomes later in life….but there are many times while reading this that you begin to understand some of the purpose for his vile actions a little more, and even feel pangs of heartache and sympathy for him.
Which is weird because you DO NOT WANT TO.
Sometimes you even feel yourself pulling for him to SUCCEED.
It goes against all you know about Snow.
That is always an interesting conundrum…..not being able to place a character neatly into the “villian” or “hero” category.
But that truly is the human struggle even in real life, isn’t it?
We all have both good and evil, hero and villian within us.
Will we choose to be the villian or the hero from one day to the next…..will we choose what is considered “good” or what is considered “bad”…and no matter what actions we choose, what will others choose to view us as?
And how will our actions and choices follow us later in life to shape who we are, what we do, and who we continue to be?
This is one of those books where even though you KNOW how horrible it will end up later, you just keep having hope that SOMETHING will go different and change the way events unfold in the future.
Because yallllllllll…..there are SO MANY TIMES things TOTALLY COULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED.
But I think all these tensions were absolutely part of the driving purpose of the author writing this book.
It was super interesting to read.
I really loved how she pulls in pieces from all the Hunger Games books too so you can really see the origin of certain things…it makes things like the hanging tree song, mockingjays and even Katniss’ name take on whole new meanings.
One thing I did NOT love about this book….there are snakes.
Like there are times when there are LOTS AND LOTS OF THEM…and wiggly snakes give me the heebie jeebies, even fictional ones 😱
I really really hope they make this book into a movie too….but I may have to cover my eyes up for all the snake scenes!
While I was reading this and imagining the casting for the movie (I seem to always do this with books for some reason LOL), I kept picturing the actor who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies playing the 18 year old Snow.
And then I realized that he is probably like in his 30s now so that probably won’t happen 😆
Totes enjoyed this book, yall….and my oldest did too. (he read it WAAAAY faster than me….he was done in like 3 days!)
If you are a Hunger Games fan, you MUST check it out!