The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Spoiler Free) Review!

Hi Friends! Welcome to my FIRST book review on this blog!

If you couldn't tell from the picture, I am reviewing the highly anticipated Hunger Games prequel:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.

When this book was announced, Hunger Games fans went WILD until they learned that it would follow our favorite villain; President Coriolanus Snow. The hype was still there, but dwindled down a bit.

Now, let me start this off by saying I was late to the game when it came to The Hunger Games. When these books came out over 10 years ago, I had no desire to pick them up. I don't like fantasy or dystopia so I didn't see the need to read them. (I also fell asleep when the first movie originally came out, but that's a different story..)

Fast forward to May of 2020, and my best friend convinced me to give this series a try, as she also had just read it for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I decided, why not? Turns out. I was missing out because I LOVED them. I had a bit of a benefit because I finished the trilogy days before this prequel was released, so the story was fresh in my book brain.

This prequel follows President Snow at the mere age of 18, as he embarks on his senior year at the Academy, an elite Capitol school, where he becomes a mentor to our district 12 Tribute, Lucy Gray, in the 10th Annual Hunger Games. (Ah, so this is where the mentorship program came from).

Before I get into my overall feelings about this gem of a book, let me break down my thoughts on each of the four areas.

1. Plot 

The plot wasn't terrible, but it did drag on. This book is split into three parts, true to Suzanne's writing in the original trilogy. The first part gives us background on President Snow and his family (which I will dive into a little later), the second part follows the Hunger Games, and the final part follows Snow's life AFTER the games. It was boring. The ending made us realize that Mr. Snow has always been an evil and selfish bastard, which didn't leave me surprised at how the ending of the book came about. We also see  a little of the "star-crossed lovers" appearing between Mr. Snow and Lucy Gray (I see why Snow hated Peeta and Katniss now). He was obsessive AND possessive of Lucy Gray and his proclamations of his sudden "love" (more like infaturation) of Lucy Gray was not only predictable but abrupt. There was NO build-up like we see in the other three books, making me feel that it was added to the plot just to be there, and draw in readers who loved the Hunger Games because of the relationship between Petta and Katniss. I just didn't feel like the plot really developed.

2. Character & Character Development

If you hated President Snow in the Hunger Games, you are really going to hate him now Not only does Suzanne try to make him seem charming, but you also see how arrogant and entitled he is. We get a glimpse into his life and learn that he is actually pretty poor, to the same level as those in the Districts, but yet he is still an entitled asshole. He is completely selfish and does not give a rat's ass about anyone. I don't even think he really cared about Lucy Gray, besides what she could do to BENEFIT him in the long run.

We also get to see how Tigris is connected to the original series, and we learn that she is the cousin to President Snow (poor thing). She remains true to her characters in the original trilogy, and we don't see much of her after part 2.

We also meet President Snow's best friend, who really isn't his best friend because how dare President Snow associate himself with him, but also his "brother" Sejanus. I loved Sejanus. He reminded me a LOT of Katniss and shared a similar spirit to hers. He of course, is seen as the "troubled" character that Snow tries to rescue, only leading to betrayal in the end. (Oops - minor spoiler there). He honestly has the most character development throughout the entire story.

And what was with all the random side characters that we were faced with but knew nothing about? It seemed a little excessive. We got to know the side characters in the trilogy during the first two games that Katniss participates in, but these characters are just... there.

Dr. Gaul was also a nightmare of a character, and I could see her being related to President Snow because the two of them are just horrendous.

Lastly, we have Lucy Gray. She is eccentric and free-spirited, a lover of music and freedom. I really liked her character and felt like she could have done better than President Snow. I see why she was drawn to him, because he essentially tried to take care of her as her mentor (hey, Haymitch where you at?), but she would have been better matched with Sejanus in my opinion.

3. Writing Style

Suzanne follows the same writing style as she did in The Hunger Games, which I found to be impressive. With 10 years between these books, her writing stayed to it's true form. I have always been a fan of her writing style and feel like she is excellent at describing the setting and our characters. Even though the character development is lacking in this book, I still enjoy her writing.

4. Overall Impressions & Opinions

I didn't hate the book but I definitely did not enjoy or like it as much as I did the first three books, especially Catching Fire. Maybe this is because I was super attached to Katniss and Peeta, and obviously they are not present in this prequel, or maybe it's because I have a true hatred of President Snow.

The idea of the story is good, and it really explains a lot about President Snow as we have come to know him, but it was boring. The story could have been shortened by at least 100-150 pages. While I wanted to keep picking this one up, I also kept finding myself easily distracted (more than usual) and wondering what the point of the story was. There really wasn't much action and more of President Snow complaining about how everyone needs to be as great and loyal as he is to our dear Panem.

Is it worth the hype? No. I don't think so.

Would I recommend it? Yes. I know that seems hypocritical of me, but if you have been a fan of The Hunger Games since it's release, then you should read this. It gives you a back story of a pretty prominent character in the series, and also helps the reader get a better understanding of who developed the first games, why they did it, what it was made to look like and how we got to where we were during the 74th and 75th Annual Hunger Games.

I would rate this one a solid 3 stars. 

FYI: 3 starts to me is not bad, it's just okay and not something I see myself re-reading in the future.