The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The last section lets this book down for me, the whole book was a little slow- but i didn't dislike that. The last 50 pages or so are just a turnabout speedrun with - for me, an unsatisfying ending. i know things can't be wrapped up in a bow but i do feel a certain character was let down and lacked a lot of agency. i wish we could have seen more of her own perspective, mixed/changing feelings and agenda.

I was very enthralled by parts of it and thought Snow was written very well, always teetering between charming and terrifying. I found my self simultaneously cheering for she being unnerved by the romance, i think this is exactly what Collins was going for. I would have liked Tigris to have a larger role, she was a very interesting character especially knowing where she ends up!

The Mockingjay symbolism was interesting but was a bit in your face by the end of it

2nd time reading: I loved this even more than I did the first time

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I loved the parts where I could see where the things in the trilogy originated from (the hanging tree song and countless others) and I loved seeing how the whole world has changed since Snow was young until Katniss came into the story.



Anyways... now where is the haymitch prequel book. I just want to see the inside details of haymitchs games and the sad details of what his life was after he won the games :((( I love haymitch and the dude deserves his own book :((

I suppose for a prequel, this wasn't terrible. It was kind of interesting learning more about the war and the early days of the Hunger Games and what made President Snow what he is... but I have a hard time with books where the protagonist is hard to root for. I also thought the relationships were weakly established, so I wasn't drawn in by that, either. And it was about a third too long. But it was still enjoyable to be transported back to that world.

I actually thought the first two thirds of this book were alright, the Hunger Games are fun (even though everything about it is kind of fucked up, it still is just kind of silly fun for some reason) and seeing them from a perspective outside of the arena was a bit novel, but maybe if I had read the original books more recently it would feel a bit redundant again.

And then the last third of the book is just... kind of boring? I didn't really care about Snow as a character at all. Maybe I'm forgetting details from the original trilogy but it seems to barely matter that he is Snow at all. This isn't even really a fall from grace story, he's kind of a shitty person on a shitty path the entire time. He briefly flirts with being not shitty, not even good just not shitty, and then decides to be shitty.

I actually liked a lot of the prose in the book, it's easy to read and it's evocative without being overly descriptive. Just nice light reading. But there are a lot of terrible story beats that repeat over and over, like Snow having a secret or something and being sure he was going to be found out, being confronted by someone, and then oh actually they didn't know and he's actually had this good thing happen! Or vice versa where he was sure he got away with something, but oh no, he's caught! The inner monologue he'd have leading up to these events so clearly laid out that it would twist the other way every time. Ugh.

Lots of times I changed on whether I was rooting for the POV character here. It takes to the very end to be sure.

You know when you kinda know what happens but are also prepared to be surprised? That's this book. I think there could have been a better delivery-especially since the author has such great talent. Nonetheless, I am glad to have read it.

Seems like a lot of people were left disappointed by this, but I personally enjoyed it.

I found the insight into how the Hunger Games came to be really interesting. I also found the insight into how Mr Snow turned out the way he did very fascinating.

Interestingly, whilst it didn't happen with the original Hunger Games trilogy, I really found myself questioning the morality of the hunger games. Mainly how the privileged people of the Capitol used it as a form of entertainment. I get it was their way of punishing the people of the districts (or the rebels), but it really was so wrong on so many levels.

Talking of which, I really despised Dr Gaul! She was horrid!

I want to start of with, parts of this book really drew me in, other parts were really difficult to get through. The last third felt rushed, and if I had to spend one more page in Heavensbee Hall, I was going to need some morphling. However, what I did find striking about this novel was that Suzanne Collins managed to capture something not many authors can. This story gives us a close-up look the mentality of narcissistic, abusive men. Coriolanus’ need to justify his every action, constantly basking in his own righteous, or if he felt was wrong, then he was the victim of the situation. The book illustrates how abusive men in power will use power imbalances to get and control women. The whole book, I saw the trauma bond forming between Coriolanus and Lucy Grey. By the end of the story, my creeping suspicion had been confirmed: Coriolanus didn’t love Lucy Grey, he was using her, and then accused her of manipulation to rid himself of blame. Collins must have read extensively about narcissistic abuse, because this is a shocking acurate portrayal of trauma bonding and abuse cycles. Overall, while the book had some problems with pacing, the cliffhangers were JAWDROPPING, the narrative was interesting, and I was satisfied with how the story ended. Good on you, Suzanne Collins. Keep doing what you’re doing.

I wasn't expecting to give this 5 stars. But I ended up really enjoying it!

I only read the original Hunger Games trilogy about 2 months ago, so I don't have the perspective of someone who's loved those books since they were released. I don't know if that had any impact on my reaction to the prequel or not.

Regardless, while this book is not as good as the original trilogy, it made me appreciate the original trilogy even more. In my opinion, Suzanne Collins did a great job with Snow's story. This is now one of my favorite series of all time!

I quite liked how many times we're allowed inside Coriolanus's head in the third person perspective; Collins has a gift in how she writes for these young frantic minds. Still, I am quite whelmed, as this entry in the Hunger Games universe relies heavily on callbacks to the original trilogy and adds little of note to the world of Panem. There's nothing overly challenging or surprising in offer here. 

The hunger games is one of my favourite sagas, so I was eager to read this one. The story of Snow was impressive and I could connect some dots between the two stories.
Also, that was a moment when I remember Katniss, so I read the whole hunger games again.
It's an amazing idea to explore the background of other important characters of the hunger games world. I loved the book.

Collins takes another dive into the hunger games universe, what a shame the pool was empty.

Unlike the original trilogy were Katniss's character was fully formed over the three books. Collins has attempted to do the same with Snow in one and this is where the problems start. There is little to no character arc for Snow.

Starting the story as unlikable, untrustworthy and completely self interested and ending about the same. Some of the secondary characters are more interesting than Snow himself. Instead of showing the fall of Snow's Family and then his bloody and poisonous rise to power. Collins takes the reader through less than a year off Snow's Life at school, including the 10th hunger game. The rest of Snow's rags to riches story is covered the last few chapters and written withsuch lack of enthusiasm I wouldn't be surprised If this wasn't a quick cash grab.

One of the biggest redeeming features of this book was the Narrator in the audiobook version, who does an amazing job voicing all the characters. For this reason alone the book is worth listening to and is the reason I gave it the rating I have.

Reading it from Snow's perspective was really off-putting at first, but then I started reading his internal monologue as if it was Joe Goldberg from YOU and it became more palatable. I hated the character but also really liked learning about the evolution of the Hunger Games. It was a confusing emotional journey.

I read this book in one day. Today. It's a little violent, but the story of young President Snow is great. There were touching moments, for example: the awareness of how the tributes had no food and were treated badly. What I liked most was the love between the two main characters, even if short. I recommend the book :)