The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0)

by Suzanne Collins

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 outmaneuvre 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
favour 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.

Three
books, four films and one WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON, The
Hunger Games changed the face of global YA.

Reviewed by alindstadtcorbeax on

5 of 5 stars

Share
Star Rating —> 4.5 Stars rounded^

Okay so— unpopular opinion time, I guess ?

Even though this absolutely broke my heart, I knew what was coming. A happy ending type of tale, this is not, my friends. This fact is something you must be prepared for, to enjoy this novel. As I read, anxiety increasingly built up in my heart & the knot in my chest became bigger & more tightly wound. The further on in the book that I was, the more a semi-good natured young man turned into something considerably more sinister.

A huge price one pays, indeed, for power...

Despite this, I thought that it was an absolutely brilliantly woven tale; It is the perfect story of man to monster for one Coriolanus Snow, a tyrant if there ever was one, that we all (well, most of us anyway— can’t speak for everyone) have loved to despise for a very long time.

My heart truly WAS shattered; I just didn’t expect this to hurt so very much. I really liked Coriolanus at one point, & almost felt badly for him. That changed considerably as the novel progressed. Although I must say, even when he was unlikeable, he was somehow, sometimes, still likeable?

My hopes for Snow to keep some humanity and goodness were squashed time & time again by my own remembrance of where things had to be heading. But that barely comes into play in my rating, because again... where else was there to go but down, morally, for Snow? The novel consistently kept me guessing though; Even as the novel was reaching its end, I truly had absolutely no clue how things would play out or what the path that Coriolanus was heading down looked like ATALL, to become the President Snow we are familiar with. He constantly was making choices that really could have multiple intentions behind, and it was just always ambiguous for me, until it was revealed that it wasn’t. There are still things at this moment that I do not know the real motivation behind.

It really says something that I kept pondering the outcome & hoping that goodness would in some way prevail come the end. Does he have any in him? That is for you to decide, once you reach the end. I don’t want to spoil things with my answer. Plus this tale truly leaves you wondering— I have been lost in thought ever since turning that very last page.

The only complaint I have is the lack of actual information on the thoughts of certain characters regarding Coriolanus’ choices, a certain character or two in particular, and what had become of them come the end of the book.

Overall— highly recommend, and I went into this thinking ‘ugh, why would I want to read about President Snow’? Turns out, I really, really did. Sure he’s a bit inherently unlikeable, lol, but I like morally grey characters. I was positively glued to it. I hope that you are as well. Another brilliant work from Collins!

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 25 May, 2020: Finished reading
  • 25 May, 2020: Reviewed