REVIEW: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

A short review of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.

In 2012, the Hunger Games craze had taken over the world. As a voracious reader and obsessive 12 year old, I was caught up in the dystopian fiction fandom just like everyone else. I read the full series over the span of two days, watched the movie as soon as it came out, and even had Josh Hutcherson as Peeta as my first iPhone lock screen picture. I grew out of my obsession eventually, along with my adoration of One Direction and having side bangs, but when I saw that Suzanne Collins was publishing a Hunger Games prequel in 2020, I felt like that 12 year old all over again.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows a young Corialanus Snow, the main antagonist of The Hunger Games series as he navigates life in the capitol soon after the first rebellion. Snow is assigned as a mentor in the 10th annual hunger games to district 12’s girl tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. We follow Snow’s journey alongside Lucy Gray and his friend Sejanus Plinth and learn exactly how he became the villain he appeared to be 64 years later in the 74th hunger games.

I love a villain origin story on principle. No one is born evil, evil is created, and I had high expectations to see how this happened in Snow’s case. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. I found Snow to be messed up, yes, and yet mostly misunderstood, confused, and just acting on survival instinct. I wanted to see how one can become so psychologically twisted; I wanted to read his own thoughts as he descended into psychopathy. Instead I got a story of a boy who might have tortured Katniss and Peeta later in life simply because of a lost love and a misguided betrayal.

The best thing about this book is the set up we see for how the Hunger Games themselves came to be. We see how the games themselves moved from something deeply uncomfortable for all citizens to becoming a spectacle and a performance. We see how the original rebellion affected both capitol citizens and those in the newly formed districts. We have more insight into the political space Snow grew up in and how that influenced the political space he ruled. We get to know the ancestors of characters we know from the original series and see how they became who they are. 

The second best thing about this book is the character of Lucy Gray Baird. As a character she was so reminiscent of all the things that made Katniss Everdeen. Strong, smart, independent, and capable of winning an unfair game. It made sense of the fact that Snow hated Katniss so much, as what could piss him off more than a semi-reincarnate of his first love? Her ending is the only one in the book I loved.

All in all, I only gave this book 3 stars, but I did read all 500+ pages in 4 hours so I do think that counts as a point in its favor. If there is one thing Suzanne Collins knows better than anyone it’s how to keep a reader hooked.

3 STARS

Where to buy online: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-a-hunger-games-novel/suzanne-collins/9780702309519

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