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

5.0

"the show's not over until the mockingjay sings.

long have i saved this one up for this very moment. despite the initial reviews that brought on plenty of hesitations to my easily influenced self, i am glad to have given this book the benefit of the doubt because i truly believe — personally as each to their own opinions — that the ballad of songbirds and snakes is the absolute example of a prequel done right.

it's a really daunting thing; prequels. it can either go surprisingly right or it can go terribly wrong and this time, i think it went surprisingly right for me. though like many others i was not exactly thrilled to hear that snow is getting his own book, now that i have read it, i really think that this whole tale is significant to that of the events in the hunger games books. snow's villain origin story one might call it.

this book definitely made me felt more intrigued in researching the history behind the first hunger games and the games after leading up to the famous trilogy itself and the supposed connections between lucy gray baird and katniss everdeen. the references and parallels were so undeniable to say the least and i'm just way thrilled to see it all coming to life on the big screen in november!

lucy gray was a charming and witty covey that i was instantly enamoured by her character. though i felt conflicted of coriolanus' character in the very beginning, his cold-hearted self was definitely showing much more towards the end which explains the behaviour and stands of his older self in the hunger games books. he was quite the sympathetic person albeit still hungry for power when he was young as his cousin, tigris, nurture the sympathetic, kind side of him. that is until he is away to become a peacekeeper and all hell broke loose as he was indeed a loose cannon. despite being written as if it was unintentional of him to execute certain actions, he had plenty of chance to turn it to the better and yet time and time again he chose betrayal for his own advantage which in the end goes to show how deep down, the ruthless tyrant that he became eventually already existed deep within him all along throughout this whole journey one might be blinded with as "love".

suzanne collins tugged at every heartstrings of mine with the emotions portrayed within this book. the emotions of love, grief and sorrows that was portrayed through lucy gray, coriolanus, tigris and more so sejanus made my heart ache immensely and yet fluttering the butterflies in my stomach at the same time (i know coriolanus was never truly in love with lucy as he more so love the idea of her but it was still sweet reading of them okay! i'm sorry!). though the ending itself feels like it is definitely open to reader's interpretation, i would simply love to think that she settled somewhere peaceful and cosy for a change after the chaos that continues to ensue her life after the games. after all, she truly deserved it.

i don't particularly have anything else to say of the book rather than please read it if you haven't. despite the mixed reviews, i personally love how the tale was told — it was neat and concise and it didn't even felt like a quick cash grab or something for the author, it was really well thought out — and i think it's pretty significant to say the least in terms of the history of the hunger games books. some may love it, some may not, but that's alright. each to your own liking!