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A review by betweentheshelves
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Re-reading this in anticipation for the new Hunger Games book coming out this month, and honestly, each time I read this I catch something I hadn't noticed the previous times. There are so many subtle connections to the original trilogy, and the English major in me is dying to write a paper about it. (I did write my Master's thesis partly about the Hunger Games, so maybe I just need to go back to that).
I am honestly even more excited about the next book coming out because knowing Suzanne Collins, it will be just as complex as this one. Plus it's Haymitch, and we all love him.
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There was such a fear when this book came out that Snow would somehow be made more human, that we would become sympathetic to him despite the horrors he committed both in the Hunger Games series and in Panem in general. We get glimpses of humanity here and there, but in no way is he redeemed of his crimes. Instead, we get to see how he was instrumental in crafting the Hunger Games that we see when Katniss enters them 60-some years later.
I'm betting, with the movie coming out, some people will try to bill this as a romance and it is also not that. Snow doesn't love Lucy Gracy even though he claims to; the ending of the book shows that. He loves power and his image more than anything else. It's such a fascinating character study, even if Snow is not a likeable character in the least.
Even if this isn't necessarily the Panem history that a lot of the fans wanted, it adds to the world overall, and now I'm curious if Collins will write other books also set in this world. It could happen!
I am honestly even more excited about the next book coming out because knowing Suzanne Collins, it will be just as complex as this one. Plus it's Haymitch, and we all love him.
---
There was such a fear when this book came out that Snow would somehow be made more human, that we would become sympathetic to him despite the horrors he committed both in the Hunger Games series and in Panem in general. We get glimpses of humanity here and there, but in no way is he redeemed of his crimes. Instead, we get to see how he was instrumental in crafting the Hunger Games that we see when Katniss enters them 60-some years later.
I'm betting, with the movie coming out, some people will try to bill this as a romance and it is also not that. Snow doesn't love Lucy Gracy even though he claims to; the ending of the book shows that. He loves power and his image more than anything else. It's such a fascinating character study, even if Snow is not a likeable character in the least.
Even if this isn't necessarily the Panem history that a lot of the fans wanted, it adds to the world overall, and now I'm curious if Collins will write other books also set in this world. It could happen!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, War