68.5k reviews for:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

3.9 AVERAGE

osande's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

karistocat's review against another edition

3.0

dark slow-paced

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

totally_mcbeck's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

chime's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

kunigunde's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

vintagestarship's review against another edition

3.75

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This book did a good job making a dictator seem... if not sympathetic, than understandable. I can appreciate the difficulty of writing a unanimous villain as a protagonist. The ending felt pretty abrupt - Corio spends so much of the book strategizing his next move and then he just... decides to run into the woods? Hmm.

ophelia_bish's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mlbreton's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jazzieromano's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mx_spine_breaker's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This prequel dives into the early years of the Hunger Games, focusing on a young Coriolanus Snow and the world that shaped him. It’s less about action and more about character, watching his hunger for power and control grow in uncomfortable detail. The brutality of the Games in their primitive form is chilling, and the themes of poverty, ambition, and manipulation run throughout. While I didn’t love it the way I did the trilogy, it’s an interesting and haunting look at the roots of a tyrant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, War

Minor: Alcohol

This prequel pulls back the curtain on a younger Coriolanus Snow, showing the cracks that eventually harden into the tyrant we know from the original trilogy. It explores the early brutality of the Games, far less sophisticated but far more savage in their rawness. Poverty, social hierarchy, and the desperate clawing for survival form the foundation of this story. While the insight into Snow’s psychology and ambition is fascinating, it’s also deeply uncomfortable. Watching the seeds of cruelty, manipulation, and warped love take root. Unlike The Hunger Games trilogy, this one lingers more on character study than action, and the tension comes from what you know he’ll become, not the hope of his redemption.