The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Star rating: 3/5 

Nearly a decade after the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy was released, Suzanne Collins has treated readers with a prequel, providing a new glimpse into the earlier days of Panem. 

Summary:

Fans of The Hunger Games know Coriolanus Snow as the evil dictator of Panem with a penchant for violence and cruelty. In this prequel, set decades before the original trilogy, Snow is eighteen, dirt poor, and struggling to make a name for himself and secure his future. The 10th annual Hunger Games are coming up, and it will be the first year the tributes are assigned mentors. Snow is assigned as mentor to District 12's female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, and as he gets to know her, he finds himself feeling more and more conflicted about the Games and those who run them. This novel gives readers insight into Snow's humanity and how he transformed from a poor, compassionate boy into the harsh president we all know, as well as how he transformed the Hunger Games forever. 

Review:

I'll be honest - this is a difficult review for me to write. I really, really wanted to love this. When this book was first announced, while I was so excited to have more stories about The Hunger Games' world, I was less than thrilled to find out that the prequel would be about Snow. "What's the point?" I thought, feeling like no story about him could make me hate him any less. That being said, I tried to go into this with an open mind and little expectation. 

This book did hook me in the beginning because of the stark difference it portrays from the Panem we knew in the original trilogy. Still only a decade after the rebellion war, there is still a lot of financial struggle in the Capitol. The Hunger Games look very different as well, being played in a small arena with tributes who are starved and given no prize or recognition for winning. While televised, the Games are hardly watched, and there is no betting, sponsors, or attempts to let the country get to know each tribute in the weeks leading up to the Games. Almost accidentally, Snow plays a major part in changing the games to look more like what we know from the trilogy. 

Despite this initial hook, the book truthfully lost me about a third of the way through. For me, the whole thing falls flat and generally feels, as I first expected, pointless. The development of Snow's character felt forced and confused. Many of the events throughout the book felt unrealistic, and in the end I felt there were quite a few loose ends in the plot. Overall, it felt rushed. If this were book one in a trilogy about Snow, there could have been more time for story and character development, but as a standalone, it just doesn't work for me. 

Overall, I am happy to have read it and to have learned more about the earlier days of Panem, but I just felt it could have been better. I would love to hear some others' thoughts on this book - please feel free to comment!