The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Reviewed by Ciara W.
In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes written by Suzanne Collins, readers get a peek into the early life of President Coriolanus Snow. In the Hunger Games trilogy, Snow is depicted as a treacherous monster. This prequel allows the reader to understand how he got to that position. The story begins when Snow, his Grandmother, and his cousin Tigris are impoverished. The three continue to live in their penthouse, however, they lack financial stability due to the harsh impacts of the war. Along with the loss of both of his parents, Snow is left scrambling to keep his appearance. Coriolanus attends the academy in which many of his lifelong peers are able to flaunt their families’ wealth. Snow has a particular loathing for Sejanus Plinth, a boy whose family moved to the Capital from District 2 after gaining great wealth. In preparation for the upcoming 10th annual hunger games, Snow and his classmates are recruited to serve as mentors for each of the tributes. Snow is given the role of mentoring the girl tribute from district 12, Lucy Gray Baird, who ends up being more promising than he had thought. Snow grows a particular fondness for Lucy Gray and she quickly becomes a crowd favorite. The gamemakers are working on adjusting the games to become more interactive when Coriolanus and his classmates present ideas of sponsorship and betting. When the games begin after a late start, Coriolanus is feeling more confident in his tribute. After some unexpected turmoil in the games, Snow is sent to become a peacekeeper. He completes his training and asks to be sent to district twelve. At this point the reader really gets to see Snow’s switch from his younger self to the President Snow they thought they knew.
Being able to see how Snow was as a boy, and the circumstances which led to his change was very interesting. The characters within the story are all well developed and it is easy to see similarities between them and the characters in The Hunger Games. Readers can see the differences between the early games, and the later ones shown in the trilogy. The book shows the events which led to developments in how the games are run. Readers also get a better look into the history of the world of Panem and how it came to be. The book uses a third person point of view, but focuses on Snow. This allows the reader to see directly into his thought process. This book would appeal to teenagers who enjoy the dystopian style and were fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy. Readers who enjoy stories with lots of twists and turns which pull you directly into the plotline will love this book. The book is similar to other popular dystopian series like Divergent and Mazerunner. Along with these books and their movies, other popular TV shows like the Umbrella Academy resemble the book.
I am a big fan of this book because I felt drawn into it within the first couple of chapters. For those who love to read dystopian novels, I would highly recommend. I give The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes an excellent rating. I felt that Suzanne Collins did a great job with the book. It is incredibly eye opening to read the makings of Snow because it leaves readers with the understanding of how people can do horrible things. While the book doesn’t have a true story behind it, it is easy to draw connections between the world of Panem and its characters, to ours.