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

2.0

I’m so sad. I wanted to love this as much as I absolutely loved the rest of the series. I did not. I was finding it hard to discern whether it was because I’ve grown since I first read and fell in love with the hunger games, or if it really was underwhelming. After reading other reviews, I’m afraid it’s most likely the latter. It took a lot to get through this. The longest it’s taken me to get through a book in a while.

I was more excited before I knew that it was the origin story of Snow. It had to end in heartbreak, right? We know he’s a villain, so what’s the point in getting invested in him when we can’t root for him? I actually did feel for him in the beginning, but the rest of the book felt contrived, filling in bits of information to connect it to the rest of the books without adequately delving into the characters or making me feel the vulnerability and human connection that I so wanted.

It felt like a hunger games mad libs.