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A review by vivianleemit
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
WARNING: spoilers in this review!!
I am a sucker for a villain origin story, and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (BOSS?!) does not disappoint. I love the world building of dystopian series, and to see the explanation of “how did it get this bad” is the cherry on top. The book is MUCH slower paced than the original trilogy; even the “action” scenes have very little action - the arena deaths, for example, are all anticlimactic, most of them via sickness and starvation vs. brawls and weapons. However, I think the slow and reflective pacing works in its favor: we get to see how Snow mulls over concepts of human nature, war, control, chaos… and twists them into justifying his behavior both within the book and beyond. I know a lot of folks hated the “forced” romance, but I think it was essential to flesh out Snow’s character. From beginning to end, he views Lucy Gray not as an equal but as someone to elevate him, to make him feel better. Someone to possess - he speaks quite frequently of owning her, and his jealous streak stirs in more occasions than one. And in the end, someone to hastily discard when she no longer met his own selfish needs.
My only complaint is how rapidly the final twist happens, and how jarring the epilogue feels after the slow pacing of the book. But I think it does drive home how abruptly Snow does an about-face when prestige and survival is on the line.
I am a sucker for a villain origin story, and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (BOSS?!) does not disappoint. I love the world building of dystopian series, and to see the explanation of “how did it get this bad” is the cherry on top. The book is MUCH slower paced than the original trilogy; even the “action” scenes have very little action - the arena deaths, for example, are all anticlimactic, most of them via sickness and starvation vs. brawls and weapons. However, I think the slow and reflective pacing works in its favor: we get to see how Snow mulls over concepts of human nature, war, control, chaos… and twists them into justifying his behavior both within the book and beyond. I know a lot of folks hated the “forced” romance, but I think it was essential to flesh out Snow’s character. From beginning to end, he views Lucy Gray not as an equal but as someone to elevate him, to make him feel better. Someone to possess - he speaks quite frequently of owning her, and his jealous streak stirs in more occasions than one. And in the end, someone to hastily discard when she no longer met his own selfish needs.
My only complaint is how rapidly the final twist happens, and how jarring the epilogue feels after the slow pacing of the book. But I think it does drive home how abruptly Snow does an about-face when prestige and survival is on the line.