The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins on May 19, 2020
Genres: Young Adult Fiction / Action & Adventure / Survival Stories, Young Adult Fiction / Dystopian, Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Physical & Emotional Abuse
Pages: 528
Format: Audiobook
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
“Well, as they said, it’s not over until the mockingjay sings.”
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, 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.
I am a huge Hunger Games fan, which I think most of these readers are, which is why this book was so hard for me to get through. You see, it was easy to root for Katniss, she was pitted against the ridiculous brutality of her world. She spoke to you, the girl who volunteered, the girl who defied her own self-preservation instinct to stand up for what’s right. But The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes it impossible to root for its protagonist because he is the ultimate antagonist, because we know what he will become. Coriolanus Snow cannot be redeemed. But he can be understood, to a point, and I think that’s what Collins tried to do here.
I had to give this novel three stars. It is just hard to like a book when you can’t stand the main character. I’m so confused. Like was she wanting us to end up rooting for Snow? Because it really didn’t work out that way. I’m really not sure what the point of this book was, because it was definitely not a redemption story and there is hardly anything that directly ties it into the main series.