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A review by chrisljm
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
528 pages of Snow being a loser.
Going to expand on my review for the sake of explaining that I don't dislike this book. I just dislike losers. I liked that Suzanne Collins gave us a prequel and gave background to the games and how it essentially all started, but I just wasn't too invested in the story because I never cared to learn more about Snow's life.
I think it's fair that other readers didn't enjoy this book because it does get a bit long and the last third does drag, but I think the people who see this book as an attempt to sympathize Snow as a villain just doesn't understand Suzanne Collins or what she wrote. We see how Snow had a tough childhood, being poor and living through war, but he is very much still cruel and narcissistic. There is in no way for this book to be taken as an attempt to get you on Snow's side.
While I personally didn't give a fuck about Snow's backstory, I think this is worth reading if you want insight on how the modern version of the games came to be. In my opinion it's less about Snow and more of an origin story to the Panem we see in The Hunger Games trilogy, and I think the book is more enjoyable if you read it with this in mind.
I also want to say that the dislike this book gets makes me firm on my stance in hating when people ask for more books on the other Hunger Game years. We have all we need to know from the trilogy. It's unnecessary and just another way for people to thoughtlessly consume media. The Hunger Games portion of this book was very uncomfortable to read, especially since I already sat through the cruelty of the games twice for the trilogy. If we were to read anymore of the games, it would just become cruelty for entertainment, which literally goes against the theme of the series.
Going to expand on my review for the sake of explaining that I don't dislike this book. I just dislike losers. I liked that Suzanne Collins gave us a prequel and gave background to the games and how it essentially all started, but I just wasn't too invested in the story because I never cared to learn more about Snow's life.
I think it's fair that other readers didn't enjoy this book because it does get a bit long and the last third does drag, but I think the people who see this book as an attempt to sympathize Snow as a villain just doesn't understand Suzanne Collins or what she wrote. We see how Snow had a tough childhood, being poor and living through war, but he is very much still cruel and narcissistic. There is in no way for this book to be taken as an attempt to get you on Snow's side.
While I personally didn't give a fuck about Snow's backstory, I think this is worth reading if you want insight on how the modern version of the games came to be. In my opinion it's less about Snow and more of an origin story to the Panem we see in The Hunger Games trilogy, and I think the book is more enjoyable if you read it with this in mind.
I also want to say that the dislike this book gets makes me firm on my stance in hating when people ask for more books on the other Hunger Game years. We have all we need to know from the trilogy. It's unnecessary and just another way for people to thoughtlessly consume media. The Hunger Games portion of this book was very uncomfortable to read, especially since I already sat through the cruelty of the games twice for the trilogy. If we were to read anymore of the games, it would just become cruelty for entertainment, which literally goes against the theme of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Gore, Infidelity, Vomit, and Cannibalism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pandemic/Epidemic