The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Precise rating: 2.5 ⭐

I wasn't necessarily bored reading this book, but it felt very bland and shallow. My opinion on President Snow didn't change and it rather felt like a fanfiction. The characters, including Snow, were pretty stereotypical and boring, which didn't help making the lovestory feel believable.

I liked part 3 more, though, and thought the ending was alright. All in all, I still enjoyed diving back into Collins's universe, I just hoped the book would show more of Snows path to the point where the rebellion around Katniss starts, not just the start of his career. But of course that's my personal expectations and not everyone's expectations can be met.

I had low expectations for a prequel after so many years, but I think the author did a great job of recapturing so many of the elements that made the original trilogy such a fan favorite: an interesting and unpredictable main character with serious inner turmoil, a different perspective on an innovative dystopian nation, and a nuanced balance-of-power dynamic (especially for a YA book). Honestly, probably deserves a 3-star, but I'm nostalgic.

Age range: 13+
Maybe too violent for younger readers, plus some really challenging character decisions.

Monsters aren't born - they're made.
They are the sum total of all that happened to them.

Now we know where President Snow's journey into monster-dom began.

We first meet Snow as a more or less typical kid concerned with school, friends, getting into college ... he may not be entirely likable, but he is just a kid. A kid who already has his eye set on becoming President.

What happens in the pages of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes are the first few steps into what created the monster who eventually ruled Panem.

Estoy en shock. Este libro sin duda nos deja ver más allá del diabólico Snow que todos conocemos. Que en este libro no deja de serlo. Como su mente funciona es impresionante.

Los Juegos del Hambre han sido mi trilogía favorita desde que los leí cuando era adolescente. Y leer este libro me ha traído muchos recuerdos. Hay alguna que otra pullita a los trilogía, que por muy tontos que fueran, a mí me hacían bastante ilusión.

Sin duda lo que más me ha dolido es la muerte de Sejanus. Era mi personaje favorito, de las pocas personas que tenían dos dedos de frente. Amigable, y eso fue su perdición. Nunca tuvo que confiar en Snow, nunca. Todavía sigo dolida por su muerte.

Quizás mi única queja (por lo que lo he dejado en 4 estrellas y no 5) es que a mí el final se me ha hecho muy apresurado. Muchas cosas han pasado en los últimos 3 capítulos. Eliminando un poco de cosas que quizás no hacía falta explicar, y comenzando, por así decirlo, la última parte, un poco antes, seguro que el final no se hubiese notado tan rápido.

I recall reviewing this so how was this lost? I had to see this book on GR's list of top 60 books or whatever to notice that my review was lost.

I recall liking the book a lot better before the last third or so. It was a little hard to root for Coriolanus, but I do remember liking his cousin and kooky gran. I liked the “genteel poverty” angle and motivation of keeping up appearances.

ok I know when this was announced I saw a big wave of backlash that was like, “A prequel about President Snow? Ugh so tired of these villain redemption arcs for white men” and like on one hand, yes for sure in general sick of that. On the other hand though it felt reductive to me to expect that Suzanne Collins would write that story when she's shown herself so capable of nuance.

Anyway I don't think this book in any way attempts to excuse the shitty adult human Coriolanus Snow became, even as it shows the culture and family that created him–it also shows other people who were raised in that same culture who chose to do better. Like if anyone actually reads this book and thinks “ugh another villain redemption story” I'm worried about them tbh.

Again I just love the worldbuilding of this series and how clearly well thought-out it is and how much you can extrapolate from the bits and pieces we get.

A few spoiler-y thoughts:- omg where is the TIGRIS book tho!! - the whole thing with the snakes was like...... contrived enough to make me squint but then IDK maybe from the start it was somehow an elaborate trap set by Dr. Gaul who was legit terrifying?- maybe those are my only thoughts, IDK I thought I had more

well bye I read this book all in one day because I couldn't put it down!!

–

2023 re-read for the podcast
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-230-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes/

guess what, I loved this even more when I re-read it and I am now upgrading it from 4 to 5 stars because of things I appreciated more when I re-read and knew what was to come

I never thought I'd be so interested in Coriolanus Snow's origin story. Are villians born or made? We see Coriolanus' formative years during a much simpler Panem and learn about the people and events that influenced him. 

One thing I really loved about Hunger Games triology was that everything felt intentional and concise. But this prequel felt more long winded than needed and I found myself rushing through parts. 

I read this book immediately after seeing the movie, so my review is also influenced by that. 

Other reviews were saying that the relationship was so much stronger in the book, but I didn't really feel that. Perhaps it felt stronger because you could hear Snow's inner monologue, but in reality there wasn't something much stronger in the book. 

And, I think that is the point. It's not a story about soulmates or star-crossed lovers you wish could get together in the end. It's romanticizing your first love and being disappointed when they don't live up to your vision. It's trauma bonding. It's the manic pixie dream girl that teaches a guy to enjoy life again but spun on it's head as Snow only ends up further entrenched in his views.

I liked this book.

Summary: In this prequel to The Hunger Games series, readers gain insight into the youth and mind of Coriolanus Snow, who would later become the tyrannical president of Panem. At seventeen, Coriolanus has lost both of his parents and most of his family's wealth, and he is fighting to maintain an air of respectability in an attempt to gain power and influence in his society. When he becomes one of the first group of mentors in the Capitol's Hunger Games, he sees his opportunity to prove himself. He is disappointed at first to be assigned to mentor the girl from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird, but he soon realizes that he may just be able to leverage her charisma to help her win the games and, in turn, win himself fame and glory.

I know there was a ton of hype over this book. I was very excited for this book when I found out it was coming. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. This book had me on a emotional roller coaster. I loved Coriolanus and Lucy and Sejanus especially. There were so many dynamics with the characters alone and the circumstances each the capital members and the tributes were in was shocking. I thought the original trilogy circumstances were rough but omg I was shocked the setting and environment this book set the scene with. It was well written and honestly was not the side I expected to see out of Coriolanus since the original trilogy he was a vile, and very hateful individual to those that defied the capital. Dr. Gaul really pissed me off with her psychotic thinking and methods but yeah. I'm trying to keep this spoiler free but I loved everything about this book.

A lot, yes, a lot of people are gonna dislike the book and that's quite understandable. Having to read about President Snow's earlier days of life, isn't gonna be easy.
Do I wanna see him as the protagonist of this novel? Or would I feel bad for him at some point?
I suppose he will always be an antagonist in my opinion and I'm glad I feel the same even as I'm done reading this.

90/100

Throughout the whole thing I was consistently pleasantly surprised. I really think this is up there with Mockingjay as one of, if not the best Hunger Games book. This thing is really long, five hundred pages, and it does drag in some parts— however, it always stops dragging and when it picks up it's very hard to put down, so it wasn't a huge issue to me. I loved Lucy Gray, seriously one of my favorite Hunger Games characters ever. She just radiated so much swag and energy. Since she is the love interest of the book and a singer, there are many passages of song in this novel, and I'm a fan of most of them. They get better as it goes on, I think, so while the lyrics kind of variy in writing quality, it barely matters, especially considering the glimpses of really nice lyrics that are present at times.
Now, it's no secret that the main character of this book is a young President Snow, so I think I can claim without it being a spoiler that Coriolanus is a horrible person. What's surprising, though, is that he comes from not only humble beginnings, but is actually a pretty good person. His father, now dead, was an honored general in Panem's first civil war, and he feels like he has to personally continue the glory that the Snow name holds. This, likely along with his nature, causes him to view human beings as tools for success rather than real people with inherent value. This is apparent early on if you pay attention, but this quality really starts to come out when he is presented with opportunities for power. I won't spoil the insanity that happens in the last couple chapters of this book, but it's fucked up, and I genuinely just hate this guy lol. The thing is, though, it's such a realistic feeling depiction of sociopaths and how they view themselves. His ego grows and grows to a nauseating degree, he uses everyone he knows, and he has a blatant disregard for human life. The more he justifies these things internally, the worse he becomes, and ultimately— you may consider this a spoiler— he throws away the opportunity for love, instead pursuing his own arbitrary standard for success.

I love these books so much. The ties between the two characters Katniss and Lucy Gray through music passed down through generations is ingenious to me. In this book you also get to see the full depths of Snows personality and ideologies through his inner monologue which is not portrayed in the movie. I read somewhere that Lucy Gray was the performer who had to fight and Katniss was the fighter who had to perform. Can’t wait for the next book to come out!

The ballad of songbirds and snATEs. Suzanne you really wrote one hell of a book. I had heard how this book sucked and was not good for years which put me off from reading it. With a movie coming up I was eager to read it and only started two days before my showtime and I'm so glad I did. I love this story and I love how entertaining it was. I could not put it down and that’s not just because I only had a few days to finish.

The first part was so cool read and to explore how not only the capital functioned but how the games were being set up. Lucy Gray was such a compelling character and her introduction made me love her right away. Then the games themselves felt so different than last time. Having the perspective be outside of the games brought a whole new layer that made it feel fresh. Lucy Gray coming in with her snakes was iconic I cannot lie. The third part is such a sharp turn that is bold because it shows the beginning of the snow we know. It shows he could have had a happy life it he wanted but he's a loser so he couldn't. I loved all the callbacks to the original and how they recontextualize aspects of the trilogy. This includes Lucy Gray being from district 12 just like Katniss and her literally creating the hanging tree the anthem of the rebellion. It makes Snows eventually downfall even funnier because not only is he getting taken down but it's literally by a girl from district 12 who sings his ex's song. The snows investing in district 13 only for that to make them poor but then district 13 is the reason the rebels even exist. Snow hating mockingjays which Katniss goes on to represent. There's more but I just love these aspects.

Seeing how the games developed was arguably the strongest aspect of this whole book. I loved how it built the world of Panem more and started traditions that continued into the future games. I also think it was a great choice to have snow be the protagonist because it shows us he's always been horrible from the start. Also Sejanus was annoying as hell and literally moronic throughout this entire book to the point he pissed me off. I get what he was going for and I agree with his opinions but he felt like a child with his decisions This truly was a great book and I'm not sure why people didn't enjoy it.

I didn't hate this. I really loved the way Collins ended the trilogy; it was so interesting and real, in a universe that wasn't very. So I was curious to see how she'd do Snow. I think the biggest issue I have is the pacing. The heel turn feels sudden and late, even if there are some smart breadcrumbs left along the whole journey. I also expected the heel turn to be in response to something but I think it was sly that it was basically always in him. He was never going to be anything else because of his basic flawed belief system. A lot of “banality of evil” stuff here. So I liked it overall but yeah I think it could've been better paced and while I thing Collin's is smarter than some of her “dystopian YA” peers about the things she writes about, I don't know that this one will stick with me too long, like the epilogue of the trilogy did.

Me disseram mas quis checar por mim mesma: concordei com amaioria. 64 anos antes de Katniss, o retrato de Coriolanus Snow é só repulsivo. Ele soa egoísta, mimado, superficial, um produto do seu meio. Mesmo apaixonado, continua unilateral e sem profundidade, buscando sempre o que vê em si: desconfiança e traição. Dá pra pular sem remorsos mesmo.

Mantiene la estructura de siempre, personajes bien construidos pero la mayor parte del libro es paja innecesaria y aporta bastante poco a la trilogía principal, quitando algunas escenas de Lucy Gray que nos recuerdan bastante a Katniss y ese simbolismo del sinsajo, las rosas y la importancia de la canción de Hangin' Tree. Y todavía hay que tener bastante imaginación para hacer un paralelismo entre la Bandada que tienen los rebeldes en esta precuela y la Bandada que surge en Sinsajo con Katniss, Peeta, Finnick y compañía. Lo único que me ha sorprendido ha sido que Tigris fuera prima de Snow, y aún así, tampoco explica mucho por qué traiciona a su primo ayudando a Katniss a derrotar el régimen de Snow.

Otra cosa de la que tampoco sabemos nada es de qué pasará con Lucy Gray, aunque entiendo que la autora nos ha querido dejar en ascuas por todo eso del fantasma que da nombre a su personaje, muy bonito y muy simbólico, pero no tiene mucho sentido crear un personaje para después dejar inacabado su arco argumental, me parece muy raro por parte de Collins ya que suele seguir una estructura muy marcada en sus novelas con un arco estructural cíclico de 9 partes y un cierre del ciclo, aunque si lo interpretamos de la otra forma sí que tiene un final metafórico por todo el tema de la nieve que nos cuenta la canción. Decepcionada, pero no mucho.