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A review by kyarabereading
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really interesting getting to see President Snow’s POV after having read the Hunger Games series. A lot of people may see this book as a way to humanize Snow to justify the decisions he made later on in life, but I slightly disagree. I think it humanizes him to show how an ordinary person can be capable of evil even when faced with every opportunity to do the right thing. And Coryo had MANY opportunities to do the right thing, but in the end he chose a life of power and greed over one of love and community. I don’t think Coryo had love in his heart for anyone - not even Lucy (he never really tried to understand her, mostly just to control her) - so every decision he made was led by fear for his own self-preservation. And that was very saddening to see considering the amount of love he had around him.
Coryo is a smart, capable individual. In another life, Coryo could have seen the circumstances he and other citizens of Panem and realized that they were all under the same boat - all under the Capitol’s control. He could have chosen a life with Lucy Gray. Instead, he let years of propaganda and fear of the unknown (the districts and its people) & fear of perceived disorder (the removal of the current class system) get to him to the point he treated district people like the enemy instead of the ones actually responsible for his hardships (the Capitol).
I think this book, like the entire Hunger Games series, is a very interesting commentary on our world today. On the way propaganda works to make us hate one another. On the way the elite treats & views working class people. On what it takes to create real change in world and how quickly the government will try to shut it down. On the excuses one can tell themselves to not do anything about the pain and suffering of others even when you have the power to do so (SLIGHT SPOILER: like multiple of Coryo’s classmates not approving of the Hunger Games despite being active participants in it and deciding that ultimately there was nothing they could do). A heart-wrenching read because of how much it parallels to the real world.
There were some places I think this story fell short however. I think the writing was not as captivating to me as Collins’ past books in the series, but I think that’s probably mostly because I loved seeing the world through Katniss’ eyes. I felt much more connected to her as a reader. I think this book serves as a very self-reflective book, and it’s evident in the amount of time Coryo spends just thinking and planning and asking himself questions and reflecting on the state of the world. The long passages of Coryo going over the same topics over and over again got a little meh after a while. But I do think that Coryo is a very interesting narrator nonetheless, and I think those passages were meant to make us reflect on our own biases and understanding of the world around us, and for that I appreciated them.
Coryo is a smart, capable individual. In another life, Coryo could have seen the circumstances he and other citizens of Panem and realized that they were all under the same boat - all under the Capitol’s control. He could have chosen a life with Lucy Gray. Instead, he let years of propaganda and fear of the unknown (the districts and its people) & fear of perceived disorder (the removal of the current class system) get to him to the point he treated district people like the enemy instead of the ones actually responsible for his hardships (the Capitol).
I think this book, like the entire Hunger Games series, is a very interesting commentary on our world today. On the way propaganda works to make us hate one another. On the way the elite treats & views working class people. On what it takes to create real change in world and how quickly the government will try to shut it down. On the excuses one can tell themselves to not do anything about the pain and suffering of others even when you have the power to do so (SLIGHT SPOILER: like multiple of Coryo’s classmates not approving of the Hunger Games despite being active participants in it and deciding that ultimately there was nothing they could do). A heart-wrenching read because of how much it parallels to the real world.
There were some places I think this story fell short however. I think the writing was not as captivating to me as Collins’ past books in the series, but I think that’s probably mostly because I loved seeing the world through Katniss’ eyes. I felt much more connected to her as a reader. I think this book serves as a very self-reflective book, and it’s evident in the amount of time Coryo spends just thinking and planning and asking himself questions and reflecting on the state of the world. The long passages of Coryo going over the same topics over and over again got a little meh after a while. But I do think that Coryo is a very interesting narrator nonetheless, and I think those passages were meant to make us reflect on our own biases and understanding of the world around us, and for that I appreciated them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content