Reviews with content warning for Deportation - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Let me preface this by saying that I listened to the audiobook. I suspect that this has a negative effect in my reading experience and I have attempted to adjust my rating bases on this. I switched between being okay with the narrator and being very frustrated. There are a lot of songs and while I don't expect them to come up with a whole score for an audiobook, some kind of tone, enthusiasm, energy (you get the idea) would have been a massive improvement. The Gem of Panem sounds almost AI generated and his female "singing" voice is just frustrating. Other than that the narrator was okay, but nothing special either.

Set not too long after the war against the rebels, this book explores the Capitol and the early Hunger Games through the eyes of Snow (yes, that Snow). He is assigned as a mentor and plans to exploit this to ensure a good future for himself. Unfortunately for him, he is assigned the underdog of the underdogs - Lucy Gray Baird the district 12 female tribute. But she is not your usual district 13 citizen and Snow works with her to try ensure her survival and his future.

It's been a while since I've read the original trilogy (maybe I should reread them actually...) but I remember what reading it was like. I enjoyed the prequel but it reads a lot like fanfiction. And I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way. There are a lot of what feel like *see, see* moments (e.g. several references to the katniss plant, songs, I'm sure there are several others I'm missing). There were parts I absolutely loved and others that... Yeah. I think parts could have been better/explained more/etc. The book maybe tries to fit a bit too much story in. I'd say it maybe contains content equal to about two of the original trilogy. There were also parts of the end that I just didn't like, but others were interesting

It's quite a lot more violent than the original books. It gets quite disturbing at times. You get to see into parts of just how messed up the Capitol is. I absolutely loved the world building and the insight into the Capitol it provided. I think this was my favourite part of the book. Honestly, I'd be interested in reading more about it, particularly the

genetics lab

(not really a spoiler but a thing that exists). It was inter sting to see into the aftermath of the war and at least at this point that not everyone lives the same glamorous lifestyle. Being able to see how things started growing into the world we saw in the last book was great. The games (still relatively new) are quite different to what we see then.

I wasn't a big fan of the main characters. I know other liked her but Lucy annoyed me, although I don't know how much of that is because of Snow's views. Snow... Well, I didn't like him. Not because of who he becomes but because who he is in this book. I know he's young but he's kind of all over the place. I think it might be an attempt to make him complex, but it just didn't work for me. It is an interesting look into how mind works though and his thought processes and reasoning.

Was it worth reading? Yes. Just be prepared for something far darker than the original trilogy that somehow managed to be the same and nothing like it at the same time. I think it delves into a lot of interesting ideas and expands on the world

Some notes on some of the content warnings (all are individually spoilered)

Child death:

Obviously these would occur, bit I thought it's Worth mentioning that these are more on page than I remember the original trilogy being

Child abuse:

Let's just say that the cushy conditiobs the tributes live in weren't a thing in the past

Murder:

Includes execution

War:

In the past. Lot's of mentions of the aftermath

Gaslighting:

Propaganda

Content Warnings