The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - An Anticipated Prequel

*This Review Contains Spoilers*

- Read More Book Reviews and Follow my Goodreads Account: Maggie Rhoads -

Four out of Five Stars

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins, is a new prequel that was released on May 19th, 2020. It begins with an unwealthy President Snow, then Coriolanus Snow, who wants to win a scholarship to University the following year. The way Snow was to receive this scholarship was to be the best mentor in the 10th Hunger Games. Snow was selected to mentor a girl from District 12, Lucy Gray. Snow is not happy about his at first, but Lucy Gray's quirky personality and singing charms the Capitol, and after she is declared the 10th Victor of the Hunger Games, Snow seems to have his scholarship in the bag. 

However, during the Hunger Games, Snow and Lucy Gray cheated together. Therefore, Lucy Gray is sent back to District 12, and Snow goes along as a Peacekeeper. There, he learns about Lucy Gray's "family." There are also subplots involving Marcus, a boy from District 2 who now lives in the Capitol and the connection of how people are naturally violent. 

I'm not going to say what happens in the end, because I felt the suspense throughout the entire novel was there the whole time. Whenever Collins would mention Snow and his scholarship, I always became very nervous, and I feel, if you have not read this novel, you should too. 

I always like to begin with constructive criticism. One thing I despised was how Lucy Gray and Snow started dating. Their relationship felt very forced, and I think Snow would only look at Lucy Gray as a ticket to his scholarship. He also has many beliefs that I can guarantee Lucy Gray would be against and would not tolerate. Snow stated multiple times throughout the novel about how Snow believes the Hunger Games are in place to keep not just the Districts in order but as a punishment for the districts for the war. He also seemed remarkably unfazed by the fact Lucy Gray had to live in a zoo cage for well over a week. Yes, he did hand out food to the other tributes with Marcus, but if he really loved Lucy Gray, would not he advocate for better conditions earlier or cheat in a way to stop the games? Lucy and Snow's relationship felt very unrealistic throughout the entire novel, and I felt Collins only added it as the necessary dystopian romance. 

Since I read this book after finishing the trilogy, it is fresh in my mind, so I am glad Collins gave us s some history of District 12's culture. It is evident that Lucy Gray came up with the Hanging Tree song and that she and her band had a leading hand in creating the music culture of District 12, which is seen in Mockingjay at Finnick and Annie's wedding. Also, it was interesting to see Snow not be wealthy in the luxurious Capitol. Also, how Marcus was struggling in the Capitol when he really belonged wit, I found that these different perspectives helped the build the world of Panem that no one had ever seen before. Finally, it was interesting to see how the Hunger Games evolved from the 10th Hunger Games to the final 76th Hunger Games.

Finally, I feel this novel was different from any other. I must say that the ideas and actions the characters made in this novel were very bright. For example, sneaking in the snakes from the laboratory into the Hunger Games arena. Another different thing was the amount of normalcy to death. Many people died in this novel, and I feel this was the record for the number of deaths. No one seemed fazed by this, and I think that was a small connection to their life during the war that many people would not have noticed. 

I rated this book four stars because it was a good read, but not lifechanging. 

*This Review Contains Spoilers*

- Read More Book Reviews and Follow my Goodreads Account: Maggie Rhoads -

Four out of Five Stars