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A review by kccool12255
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Before I start, I'd like to say that once I began my second reading of this book, both of my best friends who love it to death made me promise that I would write an official apology letter if I ended up liking this book. Though I have already given half of the speech, I'm giving the rest of it now.
When I read this book for the first time, I did not like it. I had to DNF around 118 pages because I just couldn't take the slow-pacing anymore, I didn't know what was going on, and it just confused the heck out of me. I HATE DNFing books, I only do it when I absolutely just cannot do it anymore, but it was necessary at the time. And for a while, I didn't see any people who were also hating on this terrible book, and it made me angry. For a minute there, hating on this book was my favorite thing to do. However, my best friends loved it, I was putting off the rest of my reading list, and I figured, why not give it another chance.
I would like to formally apologize for hating on this book with the magnitude and the severity that I have for the past two years. While it is not the best book in the world, it in no way deserves that level of hatred. And I would also like to apologize to my best friends, for hating on them too.
Now, with that out of the way, let's get into the review!
Listen, I get that this is a prequel. We have to fit a hunger games in here, AND Snow's story. However, THE REST OF THE TRILOGY IS 300 PAGES. THIS IS 500. I GET IT, BUT WHY? And we have to face the hurdle of getting past the first 100 pages before the games ACTUALLY get set into motion, which is probably why I didn't continue reading this book the first time around. I suppose it's my OWN fault that this took me a literal month to read, but it's so. long. The beginning could've been paced much better, that's all I'm saying.
I also understand that this is a fantasy and dystopian universe, and the names are gonna be whack, but the trilogy had names that were just a tad bit weird. Suzanne Collins goes BONKERS on the names in this book. I dare you to find me one person who can pronounce Coriolanus properly. I DARE YOU. (Apparently everyone pronounces it like Cornelius? I always thought of it as "Cor-ee-oh-lay-nus", but apparently it's "Cor-yoh-lay-nus", which I guess makes sense with the Coryo nickname, but like. Still.) And I wish the tributes in the hunger games were more memorable, because the only one who really stands out is Lucy Gray herself. In the original trilogy, Katniss and Peeta were the standouts, but there were also other tributes that you could root for and that you wanted to succeed. In this book, no one else is really developed, so you don't really feel anything when they die. Which, by the way, A LOT OF THEM DO, BEFORE THE ACTUAL GAMES. I wish over half the tributes had not died before the actual games, although I did like Marcus's death, it was very grisly and perfectly executed (and I get that the games are also a work in progress, and there are kinks to be worked out, but still), because they're not developed at all, and you're just like, "oh dang". I know SNOW doesn't care about the tributes dying, but that doesn't mean WE don't have to care, let us as the audience connect with them. And on that note, do the same thing with Snow's fellow MENTORS, come ON. The only standouts are Sejanus and Clemensia, who I desperately wish had more page time, because I really like her. Sejanus is so precious, by the way. AND THEY KILLED HIM. PRECIOUS BABY BOY. I'M SO SORRY.
I'm also not totally on-board with Snow coming up with literally EVERYTHING. I GET that this man is the eventual president of the nation and that the hunger games would not be what they are without him, but that doesn't mean he has to come up with EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE CURRENT GAMES. I would've preferred if some ideas had emerged over time, and not just been thought up by him on the spot. I don't know if Snow came up with EVERYTHING in the current hunger games in this book, but he definitely came up with a lot.
On the topic of Snow, it may or may not have been his actor in the movie that helped me get through this book (hehe). But that's a topic for another day. Reading in Snow's third-person POV is what provides a lot of the comedy from this book. Because you know what the child-murder games are missing? COMEDY. (For legal reasons, this is a joke.) Snow is so mean and petty, but some of the things he says are absolutely hilarious. I clearly remember the moment in which I discovered my favorite line in this book. Please enjoy the comedy stylings of Coriolanus Snow below:
"I started out as a medical doctor, you know," Dr. Gaul said. "Obstetrics."
How awful, Coriolanus thought. To have you be the first person in the world a baby sees.
IT IS SO MEAN BUT SO FUNNY. I CAN'T.
On the topic of Dr. Gaul, I have...mixed feelings about her. She's definitely better than Dean Highbottom, who is by far one of the stupidest characters I have ever seen in a book, my GOSH. Holding a grudge over this bright boy because you were best friends with his father and you had a fight? COME ON. BE SO FOR REAL. Dean Highbottom is very stupid, I hope his character improves in the movie. Dr. Gaul, however, is a somewhat effective villain. There were times when she annoyed me, and there were times when I was genuinely scared of her. She is INSANE. (And when I'm reading, for some reason, I always picture her as looking like Doc Ock from Into the Spiderverse, I don't know why.) I am unsure where I land on Dr. Gaul, maybe my opinion will change later on.
Now, on to the romance, which, knowing me, it's surprising that I've taken this long to mention it. First off, we've done tribute-tribute pairings, with Katniss and Peeta, and SORT OF done mentor-mentor pairings, with Effie and Haymitch, in the original trilogy, so I LOVE the direction Suzanne Collins went with this. MENTOR-TRIBUTE ROMANCE? YESSSSSSSS. I was LIVING for their first kiss, it was so perfect. And how they reunited after the games and got closer together, YES. I WAS LIVING MY BEST LIFE. THEY ARE SO PERFECT. She's the perfect softness to his sharp edges, and they could've been so good together if CORYO HAD JUST LET GO. WHY. UGHHHHHHH. The most clever thing about this relationship, and really this entire book, is that you have a vague idea of how things are going to go, but it STILL manages to surprise you.
I'm gonna include the small little tidbits here, before I round this out. I don't really like Tigris being Snow's cousin, I don't THINK it was ever mentioned in the actual trilogy and it feels kinda shoe-horned in there. I do love what they do with her character, but I wish she had just been a good friend to Snow. And I'm not gonna put too much about Sejanus, because the fandom does enough of that, but he is precious. I did spoil the ending for myself, but I will always be sad about his death. Calling out for his mom, so sad.
I was at first iffy about the symbolism and foreshadowing of future events in this book, but I think it works out well. SO FREAKIN GOOD. I WAS SHOCKED MULTIPLE TIMES. THEY STRUNG UP A MAN THEY SAY WHO MURDERED THREE? AND HE CALLED OUT FOR HIS LOVE TO FLEE? AND SHE LOOKS LIKE KATNISS? BRO And Snow's immediate aversion to mockingjays is so funny.
Overall, does this book do the trilogy justice? Not really, but it's still a lot of fun. I actually had a good time, and I'm excited for the movie to come out. It's not my favorite book in the world, but it's not the worst.
When I read this book for the first time, I did not like it. I had to DNF around 118 pages because I just couldn't take the slow-pacing anymore, I didn't know what was going on, and it just confused the heck out of me. I HATE DNFing books, I only do it when I absolutely just cannot do it anymore, but it was necessary at the time. And for a while, I didn't see any people who were also hating on this terrible book, and it made me angry. For a minute there, hating on this book was my favorite thing to do. However, my best friends loved it, I was putting off the rest of my reading list, and I figured, why not give it another chance.
I would like to formally apologize for hating on this book with the magnitude and the severity that I have for the past two years. While it is not the best book in the world, it in no way deserves that level of hatred. And I would also like to apologize to my best friends, for hating on them too.
Now, with that out of the way, let's get into the review!
Listen, I get that this is a prequel. We have to fit a hunger games in here, AND Snow's story. However, THE REST OF THE TRILOGY IS 300 PAGES. THIS IS 500. I GET IT, BUT WHY? And we have to face the hurdle of getting past the first 100 pages before the games ACTUALLY get set into motion, which is probably why I didn't continue reading this book the first time around. I suppose it's my OWN fault that this took me a literal month to read, but it's so. long. The beginning could've been paced much better, that's all I'm saying.
I also understand that this is a fantasy and dystopian universe, and the names are gonna be whack, but the trilogy had names that were just a tad bit weird. Suzanne Collins goes BONKERS on the names in this book. I dare you to find me one person who can pronounce Coriolanus properly. I DARE YOU. (Apparently everyone pronounces it like Cornelius? I always thought of it as "Cor-ee-oh-lay-nus", but apparently it's "Cor-yoh-lay-nus", which I guess makes sense with the Coryo nickname, but like. Still.) And I wish the tributes in the hunger games were more memorable, because the only one who really stands out is Lucy Gray herself. In the original trilogy, Katniss and Peeta were the standouts, but there were also other tributes that you could root for and that you wanted to succeed. In this book, no one else is really developed, so you don't really feel anything when they die.
I'm also not totally on-board with Snow coming up with literally EVERYTHING. I GET that this man is the eventual president of the nation and that the hunger games would not be what they are without him, but that doesn't mean he has to come up with EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE CURRENT GAMES. I would've preferred if some ideas had emerged over time, and not just been thought up by him on the spot. I don't know if Snow came up with EVERYTHING in the current hunger games in this book, but he definitely came up with a lot.
On the topic of Snow, it may or may not have been his actor in the movie that helped me get through this book (hehe). But that's a topic for another day. Reading in Snow's third-person POV is what provides a lot of the comedy from this book. Because you know what the child-murder games are missing? COMEDY. (For legal reasons, this is a joke.) Snow is so mean and petty, but some of the things he says are absolutely hilarious. I clearly remember the moment in which I discovered my favorite line in this book. Please enjoy the comedy stylings of Coriolanus Snow below:
"I started out as a medical doctor, you know," Dr. Gaul said. "Obstetrics."
How awful, Coriolanus thought. To have you be the first person in the world a baby sees.
IT IS SO MEAN BUT SO FUNNY. I CAN'T.
On the topic of Dr. Gaul, I have...mixed feelings about her. She's definitely better than Dean Highbottom, who is by far one of the stupidest characters I have ever seen in a book, my GOSH.
Now, on to the romance, which, knowing me, it's surprising that I've taken this long to mention it. First off, we've done tribute-tribute pairings, with Katniss and Peeta, and SORT OF done mentor-mentor pairings, with Effie and Haymitch, in the original trilogy, so I LOVE the direction Suzanne Collins went with this. MENTOR-TRIBUTE ROMANCE? YESSSSSSSS. I was LIVING for their first kiss, it was so perfect.
I'm gonna include the small little tidbits here, before I round this out. I don't really like Tigris being Snow's cousin, I don't THINK it was ever mentioned in the actual trilogy and it feels kinda shoe-horned in there. I do love what they do with her character, but I wish she had just been a good friend to Snow. And I'm not gonna put too much about Sejanus, because the fandom does enough of that, but he is precious.
I was at first iffy about the symbolism and foreshadowing of future events in this book, but I think it works out well. SO FREAKIN GOOD. I WAS SHOCKED MULTIPLE TIMES.
Overall, does this book do the trilogy justice? Not really, but it's still a lot of fun. I actually had a good time, and I'm excited for the movie to come out. It's not my favorite book in the world, but it's not the worst.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Cannibalism
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol