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

4.5

The Snows were an elite family before the war, building their capital on weapons manufacturing in District 13. But with the rebellion and the subsequent fall of the thirteenth district — including the death of Coriolanus Snow’s parents — the Snow family fell from prominence. Now subsisting on cabbage and beans to survive, Snow, his cousin Tigris, and the Grandma’am are hoping Coriolanus Snow’s academic success can pull them from poverty and land them back on top. 

Snow finds himself mentor to District 12’s girl, Lucy Gray Baird, a task he immediately detests. He’s a Snow, why does he deserve to mentor a tribute from a district so poor, and the girl, at that? His opinion changes when he sees her Reaping ceremony and it continues to evolve as he weasels his way into the tribute holding area and beyond. Eventually he comes to believe she might love him, and he might love her back. How, then, does he expect to see her through the Tenth Hunger Games?

There are times you might think Snow isn’t so bad. He
tries to save the life of Arachne Crane when her tribute slits her throat, and he sneaks food and gifts to Lucy Gray before the Games begin
. He also takes pity on Sejanus Plinth, a District 2 kid whose family moved to the Capitol after quickly rising to power when the Capitol’s weapons manufacturing shifted to District 2 post-rebellion. Snow lets everyone call them friends, and he tries to save Sejanus's public image on numerous occasions.

But Suzanne Collins gives us so much of Snow’s inner dialogue, and we see that he is a boy driven by greed, power, and the need to control. He
tried to save Arachne not because it was right but because there were cameras, and he needed to appear like a good classmate. He hates Sejanus for deriding the privilege he now has as a student in the Capitol. For throwing away the opportunities he’s been given and for being ungrateful for the power his father has
. Most of all, even though he appears to love Lucy Gray, we see him internally driven by a need to possess her. He hates when she mentions
her lost love Billy Taupe
, and he feels jealous and possessive whenever anyone fails to recognize that Lucy Gray is his. This girl sings and drops snakes down mean girl’s skirts and claims to be from a wayward group of musicians belonging to no one - not the districts, not the Capital - and he wants to claim her as his own.

Overall, this book was way less sympathetic to Snow that I feared. I thought this would be one of those villain origin stories that overly rationalizes the villain, making them more sympathetic than need be. Fortunately, I don't think this was that. Even though he may seem to care about people, he's also willing to throw them away at a moment's notice if he feels like it might be more beneficial to him. 

A thematic observation I enjoyed:
He has no moral compass, but is guided by his father's old compass. He doesn't exactly have a moral compass either.
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