Welcome back readers. For today's post, we will be discussing the new "Hunger Games" book by Suzanne Collins called "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes". It is a prequel to the original trilogy, taking place 64 years before Katniss Everdeen entered the games.
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| I really like the cover. |
Before we get into the book, I want to look quickly at the symbolism on the cover. As with the other books, this has target circles on the mockingjay, which again will be an important part of the story. Look at the circle on which the mockingjay appears- it's not a solid circle as with the other books, but made up by branches instead. This means, in my opinion, that these Games are just beginning and the story is barely starting. As with the animals, the serpent mostly represents Coriolanus Snow and the mockingjay Lucy Gray (I'll write more about them later on).
As I said, this book takes place 64 years before Katniss. Therefore, these are the 10th Hunger Games. The story is told from a third-person narrative, focusing on Coriolanus Snow, whom we know will become the greatest villain of this world as Panem's president. He is around 17 to 18 years old, studying at the Academy in the Capitol. For these Games, the game maker Dr. Gaul has
proposed something different: that each tribute will have an Academy senior
student as their mentor. Coriolanus is then assigned to Lucy Gray, the female
tribute from District 12 (Katniss' future home).
As the story progresses, Snow and Lucy fall in love. Lucy tries to survive the Games, while Snow tries to save the goodness in his heart and the girl he loves, while slowly descending into the evil being we know and loathe.
The story deals with similar themes to the original trilogy. It's gory at parts, heartbreaking, infuriating, and overall one hell of a ride. Of course, not everything is perfect, and I found myself putting down the book too many times. It was hard to get through at some points, and several parts dragged on a little. To better organize my ideas, I divided them between pros and cons.
Pros:
I really enjoyed Lucy Gray's character. She's wildly different from Katniss in terms of personality, and how she carries herself in the Games. She loves color (she mostly wears a rainbow dress), singing and flirting. Lucy is a free spirit with a deep connection with music and mockingjays- hence her representation in the book cover and title. She is not really from District 12, as she is part of a traveling music band that got stuck in 12 after the War.
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| Lucy Gray Baird Credits to Shrakdraws! |
Another thing I enjoyed was Dr. Gaul. She is the game maker, responsible for designing the Games and bringing new and "entertaining" dangers to the tributes. Think of her as Dolores Umbridge in the Games, with tremendous science knowledge, but with the same sadistic pleasure for torturing. Even though she's a monster through and through, it was fun to read about her. She's not an entirely solid villain, but she was good. Dr. Gaul is the one responsible for most of Snow's corruption.
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| Think of this bastard and there you have Dr. Gaul, but in Capitol fashion. |
The third thing I liked in this book was reading from the Capitol's perspective. You get to see how the rebellion affected them; how some of them fell into things such as cannibalism just to survive during the worst parts of the War; and the way they react to the Games. Their reactions and decisions are seen as inhuman by us readers, and by the Districts too, but the Capitol citizens see them as normal; they were raised with that way of thinking. You also get to see how they justify the Games and all its cruelty, and the way they look at District people.
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| This is Panem. |
This leads me to how things used to be, which was very fun to read. The Games are INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT from the ones we are used to. From the arena, to the way the tributes were treated, what happened to the victor, the bets, the mentors relationship with the tributes and so much more. You get to see how these Games started and how they evolved through the decades.
Last but not least, something I loved were the connections this book made with the original trilogy. The katniss plants make an appearance more than once in District 12. You get to learn and understand why Snow hates the mockingjay so much. The Hanging Tree song is born, and Suzanne Collins does a terrific job explaining not only its meaning, but also its connection to both Snow and Lucy's story. And of course you can see how Snow's vision and ideas change the Games, bringing forth the monstrosity we've come to know.
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There's also a fan theory that Katniss' paternal grandmother appears in this book, as a character from District 12 that Snow gets to meet later in the story. Further into Katniss' character, at one point in the book, Lucy goes to collect the katniss plant, to which Snow replies that the plants were not ready yet; Lucy answers by saying that "two weeks can make a lot of difference." Two weeks was the time that Katniss spent in her first Hunger Games.
Cons:
I really didn't like Snow's point of view. Not because the author did a bad job; on the contrary, I think she did it quite well. But Coriolanus Snow is a character very hard to empathize with, you know? Even though he starts "mostly good", he tries to justify all of his horrible deeds, and that is sickening. The way he sees his friends as people to use, and how he looks at Lucy as his possession was very difficult to read. Even though he had multiple chances to change and see the world from the Districts' perspective, he refused to listen and change. He was a monster, period.
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| A snake through and through. Credits to the artist who drew Snow's young version. |
Another character I didn't like was Sejanus Plinth. He is Snow's friend, and he moved with his family from District 2 to the Capitol. Snow befriends him only because of the many benefits that friendship could bring him. As for Sejanus... lord. He was always supporting the rebels and the Districts despite living in the Capitol, which was something I appreciated. But I hated how he constantly he threw himself in danger without thinking of the consequences for him and his whole family. Even though I liked how he faced Dr. Gaul and the Capitol's ways, he mostly came off as whiny when he talked about Panem's problems. Yes, he did try to do the right thing most of the time. But it's his recklessness that made me mad with frustration, as he was always jumping towards the first little rebellious act he saw. He was annoying for me.
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| My mood with Sejanus Plinth. |
As for the romance in this book, I hated it. It came off as forced, full of cringe, possessive and ultimately abusive. I never for a second believed that Coriolanus and Lucy fell in love. For me it was just infatuation, and it was destroyed in a matter of minutes anyways. Even though the romance in the original trilogy is not the best either, believe me: Katniss and Peeta are way better than these two. I ended up appreciating Peeta more.
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| I couldn't find the artist, but all credits go to them. |
Now, for my personal taste, Lucy Gray's fate was left too open. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against an open ending for a story or for a specific character. It's not my favorite type of ending, but I can live with it. But I think Lucy Gray's fate needed closure. I understand why it wasn't done this way, but still. It was frustrating.
The last thing I didn't like was the book's pacing. It was very slow, especially in the beginning. Since the story is all from a Capitol's perspective, you don't really go into the Games as we did with Katniss. You are an outsider, watching the Games but not becoming a part of them. That made the story slow in many parts. Also, several moments used to drag on and on with Snow's reflections. Again, I don't have anything against this particular thing, but for me it's unnecessary to spend so much time in someone's reflections. They are important and good, as long as they don't make the plot slow down too much.
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| I can't even. |
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In conclusion, "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is a good book. Not brilliant, but overall very entertaining and engaging once the plot picks up. The characters are not perfect, most are not fleshed out entirely, but they are fun to read about. I enjoyed reading how Snow fell into darkness and became succumbed by it, even if I didn't like his point of view that much. If you would like to explore how Panem was before Katniss, then this book is for you. Overall, I give this book:
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| 3/5 stars. |
I hope you guys enjoyed this review. I will continue doing so with other books. See you next Sunday!
P.S. I'd like to read another book from Panem. Maybe the story of Alma Coin, who knows?
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