A review by hwest27
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

3.0

Took me a long time to get through this book…it was hard to read at times with the inner dialogue being so demented, grosteque, and filled with horrific details. Yet at the same time, if was incredibly fascinating to see Snow’s thoughts spiral and how Suzanne would write a scene; Snow would twist everything that was happening due to his sociopathic nature and being unable to truly care for those around him besides himself and feeling in a constant state of threat. I also think this reflects the general writing of Suzanne so well because she is able to take one scene and show the different perceptions of each of her characters and integrate their reactions so thoughtfully and intentionally; everything she writes is intentional and purposeful, which I highly enjoyed. She also sets the rest of the series up so beautifully and has thoughtful and incredible references and allusions to the trilogy, which I appreciated as a long time fan. One of my biggest stipulations is that I thought the book often dragged on and could’ve been shorter, the games themselves weren’t as engaging (though is this even further alluding to the engagement level of the games in years to come), and I didn’t enjoy the over romanticization of Snow at times. Still, I’m glad I read it and I did enjoy it.