The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
By Suzanne Collins

The festivities surrounding 10th annual Hunger games have begun and Coriolanus Snow is 18 years old and hoping to get an opportunity to mentor a winning tribute. Only that could lead to him getting a prize and allow him to attend university because his family will not be able to afford it otherwise. He doesn’t get a winning tribute, and instead, he is assigned a strange girl from the lowest district, 12. He now has to try to make her quirky personality shine and every choice he makes is life or death for one or sometimes both of them.

I was a huge fan of the Hunger Games trilogy and I knew as soon as I heard about it that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a must read for me. I ended up listening to the audiobook, which was wonderful because the narrator chosen for this book was the best I have experienced. He did a great job at making different inflections for each character without being too over-the-top and his voice was perfect for this story.

I was so interested in learning about the ways that Hunger Games were shaped in its early years and this story did not disappoint. There were so many well rounded and terrifying characters introduced in this story and the writing style is absolutely beautiful. We get a window into who President Snow was as a young adult and how he was shaped into the terrible man we know and hate. His story is so satisfying and I am thrilled that Suzanne Collins decided to share it with us.

If you are a fan of the Hunger games, this book is a must read for sure. It is such a cool prequel that gives you so much more appreciation for small details of the Games and the characters who created them in the first place. It would be pretty good as a stand-alone book or to start the series if you haven’t read the Hunger Games Trilogy yet.

I give The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

-Jacqui

Pros: The insight into the Hunger games and into President Snows past was so interesting and you can connect it all directly to the original Hunger Games novels.
Cons: It wasn’t a super-fast paced read for me. I was interested, but not sucked in completely the way I was with the original Hunger games series.  

Characters 4/5
Setting 3/5
Writing 5/5
Plot & Themes 5/5
Romance 3/5
Diversity 2/5

Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction
Trigger Warnings: Violence, death, murder, alcohol use
Age Recommendation: 12+
Length/Page Count: 16hrs 16min, 528 pages
Format & Source: Audiobook, Audible
Narrator: Santino Fontana
Publishing Info: Scholastic Inc, 2020