Audio Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games Prequel) by Suszanne Collins, narrated by Santino Fontana  

Sci Fi/Dystopia/YA

Summary: It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, 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.

439 pages

My Rating: A-

Last year was a year of many prequels and sequels, and I, for one, am glad of it. It meant more stories about the characters we know. I've heard a lot of complaints about this one. That it's unnecessary, that Snow is not a sympathetic character to follow, and more. No book is ever necessary unless there's a literal cliffhanger from the previous book. This one? Gives us lots of insight into President Snow, and how he became the unbending man he was. Not sympathetic, no. But it provides a depth to the world that we didn't have before. And I love the insight into how the Games became the high-profile thing it was in Katniss's time. 

The world of the Hunger Games has never been a happy one. But seeing how things came to be so set in stone tells a lot about the way things evolved, which I find fascinating. And the little links between Snow's youth and Katniss's time also shows why he took her especially personally. If he had not, so much could have been avoided. But he'd been trained out of empathy before the end of this prequel, and that explains so much. I would be interested to read this again, and then follow up with the Hunger Games series to notice the other names mentioned in this. There was one in particular who shocked me. I won't name them specifically, but I will say to pay attention to his cousin. I was fascinated by that, because it came out of left field.

In short? A very worthy prequel, but don't expect to feel empathy for what he goes through, or why he ended up where he was. He wasn't a good man, and some of it was definitely his own doing. If you like prequels like that, and characters you might not be able to empathize with or understand, definitely give it a look. It is a very interesting addition to this universe.

To see my rating system, go here.

My Goodreads account

My Twitter account