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

challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

as a fan of the original three hunger games books, this was a pretty well-done prequel book. readers see how coriolanus became the controlling, tyrannical leader depicted in the original series. we see his ambitions and struggles as a young adult after the war, and how mentoring the games introduces him to the ideal of control, and how without it, chaos would run rampant. chaos is represented by the hunger games, and <spoiler coriolanus experiences this uncontrolled chaos when he's briefly thrown inside the arena. overall, this book addresses the question of "what if there were no rules and nobody had control and power?" very well, and i appreciated the way this theme was incorporated into the plot. i will say that this book was quite slow-paced compared to the original series, but that wasn't a huge deal to me. what i did not appreciate was coriolanus's relationship with lucy gray. maybe it's because i'm not big on romance in books sometimes, but i felt that their relationship felt forced and could have been written to be better intertwined with the plot. it somewhat added to the plot though, and i can see why their relationship was important in terms of the story and connecting the prequel back to the original series. overall, a book worth reading, just not something i'd want to read again. 
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