A review by reka111
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Snow lands on top

The review contains spoilers!!!

I'm sure many of you know that I'm a big Hunger Games fan and Everlark is one of my religions, so it's not surprising that I read this book as well, if only because it takes place from the perspective of the main villain (President Snow) when he was young. I liked the book at first, but I still haven't recovered the magic I experienced during the books and movies. It was a completely different time, with different circumstances and different characters, but more brutal than the original books.

───────────────────

SNOW

All right, all right. Call him a monster - because he deserves it - but i totally understand the reason for his actions, teribble or not but i would have done the same for power. Monster or not, I wouldn't call him evil, because after all, he played with open cards the whole time (which was not observed here) and at one point in his life he did a lot for a few people.  We have always only seen his spoiled, rich and powerful self, but never his past and I think he needed this book to make him more human, because at some point we would all break.

LUCY GRAY

She was so brave, so strong and so naive, but she still somehow caught me. Most of the tribute went crazy and lost in their own minds after winning, but not her.  Lucy Gray did everything for those she loved and fought to the end against the power above her - only to be betrayed. And that song. That is a damn song. No wonder Snow wanted to kill Katniss for it, it was very personal to him.

OTHERS:

Tigris is the tip of my heart, the complete melody of my soul, and I would be able to give her the world, because she deserves it. She did so much for her family and what was the gratitude? They ruined her life.
Sejanus. God, this kid was so annoying, but in a horrible way. He thought he could face the greater power only to lose. Despite all his idiotic actions, I have immense respect for him for giving the ultimate respect that his tribute deserved, because at the end of the day they were all just human, nothing more or less than that.

───────────────────

The plot was basically interesting, but in some places it was a bit slow and boring for me. It was definitely not a love story (even though it had some) and definitely not for the faint of heart.  Basically, it was sad to see how the tributes were treated like animals and how much they didn't care about them, even though they were children.