The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Hardcover, 517 pages
Release Date: May 19, 2020
Published by: Scholastic Press
Read from: May 16-24, 2020
The Hunger Games, #0
Source: Bought
TW: Death (by hanging), Violence, Suicide ideation, Snakes
For fans of: Dystopians, The Hunger Games, Villain Origin Stories, Series Starters, Prequels

     Ambition will fuel him.
     Competition will drive him.
     But power has its price.
     It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
     The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

*MY THOUGHTS*

I have not been more disappointed in my life. Ok, that was kind of dramatic, but still, I was disappointed. I waited on this for SO. LONG. And I freaked out because I was so exicted that it came early. And then when I started reading it I was slogging through it anyways.

“As you always say, your roses open any doors.”“

pg. 38

Coriolanus knew as a mentor in the 10 Hunger Games he would have his work cut out for him. But when he becomes the mentor of the Girl from District 12, he feels he really has to show out in order to survive. With the odds against him, can he win the hearts of Panem and his tribute?

“Wars are won with heads, not hearts.”“

pg. 161

Ok, the number one problem I had with this…. This did NOT have to be 500+ pages. There was so much dialogue and didn’t really seem like anything was happening plot wise. There was so much that could have been filtered out. The plot was almost non-existent. I ended up reading until like 392 and then I skimmed until the end. Sad thing was, I didn’t miss anything. Collins tried really hard to turn this into something and all it really ended up being about was a girl who supposedly made Snow hate District 12 so much. But I never felt that hatred.

“In any scenario, it’s preferable to have the upper hand, to be the victor rather than defeated.“

pg. 162

Then there was the main character. I’m not sure if this was a character or plot issue, but in villain origin stories I go in thinking they’re terrible characters and then at the end of the story, I feel sad that those things happened to them and then I see their behavior as somewhat, just a tiny bit, justified. (See Heartless by Marissa Meyer) But that didn’t happen with this one. I felt like he was terrible in the beginning and the story just solidified that he was terrible. He made those decisions on his own. He made choices, and I just think he made the wrong ones. He wasn’t forced. So basically what I’m saying is, my view of him didn’t change, so I don’t feel this was necessary. I think I would have liked a prequel of Prim more? Idk.

“…who wouldn’t rather be the victor than the defeated?” “I don’t know that I have much interest in being either.”“

pg. 162

The reason I didn’t DNF this was the references. It was chock full of series references and I really enjoyed finding them. And I really liked the story of how The Hunger Games and some of the things they do came to be. So glad Katniss came along and shook thinks up so many years later. For the purposes of this book, it didn’t really work though. It seemed like she was trying SO HARD to give it relevance to The Hunger Games. Like to the point of her REACHING. Idk, I just could have done without some of the things.

“Try not to look down on people who had to choose between death and disgrace.”“

pg. 176

I wasn’t really impressed by this. Definitely something I could have done without reading. Kinda upset that I didn’t love it like I did the others. My expectations were super high and I just don’t feel like this delivered.

Overall, I give this

What about you? Have you read this? What did you think about it? Could you have done without it too? Let me know in the comments!