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A review by abby_gail_noel
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
5.0
Warning: very mild spoilers
(Y’all were around to get a 12 page essay but I decided to take it easy on you :)
It took me quite a few hours to gather myself after finishing this to be able to form clear thoughts. My mind was reeling after I closed the book and stared off into the abyss thinking about what I’d just read. I immediately knew this was a 5/5 book for me. It has easily been one of my favorite books this year (thus far), which is crazy to say because I almost didn’t read it.
My initial impression before even starting it was that it was just a money grab. I’ve never been one for a prequel and I thought this would cheapen a series I grew up loving, which had such a profound impact on me.
It was quite the opposite.
I thought this book was not only nuanced and beautifully written, but added levels of depth and richness to the original series I didn’t know I needed, but now don’t know how I lived without for so many years. There were so many parallels and small details that added significance and explained things that would happen later down the road. As I was reading, it felt like missing pieces were being added to a puzzle I’ve been trying to put together for years.
President Snow has always been one of my favorite book villains, mostly because he’s always seemed like such a plausible character. We live in a world with people like this who rationalize atrocities in much the same way. I think his character says a lot about our society and what we should really fear in a villain.
This book didn’t necessarily endear me to him, but it gave an important glimpse into his mind and a snippet of his life explaining the events that transpired to turn him into the President Snow we see in the original trilogy. It gives us an idea of the kinds of ideals and values that would lead someone to turn out this way. Even though it’s fiction, there’s something to be said about the fact that entitlement, self-preservation, egocentrism, and an over emphasis on nationalism can culminate in the formation of people like this. People who do utterly evil and backwards things, but still have a shred of humanity left. Not only that, but also qualities that make us think twice about hating them completely. Although he committed innumerable horrors, he was ultimately the product of a deeply flawed system (doesn’t excuse it, but something to think about).
This brings me to Lucy Gray Baird. Her story is so achingly tragic it’s hard for me to even think of what to say. She’s a symbol, highlighting every awful injustice of the Capital and every bit of humanity and endurance of the districts. Her story was poetic and representative of past and future generations of hardship and struggle. She’s a character everyone can get behind, and I most certainly did. The worst thing was that sinking feeling throughout the book, knowing what would happen, knowing she would not have her due justice or peace.
What was most amazing was seeing their stories intertwining. Coriolanus, who had such a profound impact on the Hunger Games going forward, and Lucy, who had an equally profound impact on the rebel cause going forward. They were always doomed to fail and, in the end, the book left me with a sense of unrest and sadness. But it almost had to be that way. This is in stark contrast to the swell of peace at the end of the original trilogy, finally righting all the wrongs left open at the end of this book.
I know the Hunger Games is not everyone’s cup of tea, but this book ravaged me. I daresay I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the originals (I know that might sound like sacrilege but it’s how I feel).
Anyway, I will be going to see the movie and I am absolutely planning on sobbing just like I did while I was reading the book. The end. *bows
(Y’all were around to get a 12 page essay but I decided to take it easy on you :)
It took me quite a few hours to gather myself after finishing this to be able to form clear thoughts. My mind was reeling after I closed the book and stared off into the abyss thinking about what I’d just read. I immediately knew this was a 5/5 book for me. It has easily been one of my favorite books this year (thus far), which is crazy to say because I almost didn’t read it.
My initial impression before even starting it was that it was just a money grab. I’ve never been one for a prequel and I thought this would cheapen a series I grew up loving, which had such a profound impact on me.
It was quite the opposite.
I thought this book was not only nuanced and beautifully written, but added levels of depth and richness to the original series I didn’t know I needed, but now don’t know how I lived without for so many years. There were so many parallels and small details that added significance and explained things that would happen later down the road. As I was reading, it felt like missing pieces were being added to a puzzle I’ve been trying to put together for years.
President Snow has always been one of my favorite book villains, mostly because he’s always seemed like such a plausible character. We live in a world with people like this who rationalize atrocities in much the same way. I think his character says a lot about our society and what we should really fear in a villain.
This book didn’t necessarily endear me to him, but it gave an important glimpse into his mind and a snippet of his life explaining the events that transpired to turn him into the President Snow we see in the original trilogy. It gives us an idea of the kinds of ideals and values that would lead someone to turn out this way. Even though it’s fiction, there’s something to be said about the fact that entitlement, self-preservation, egocentrism, and an over emphasis on nationalism can culminate in the formation of people like this. People who do utterly evil and backwards things, but still have a shred of humanity left. Not only that, but also qualities that make us think twice about hating them completely. Although he committed innumerable horrors, he was ultimately the product of a deeply flawed system (doesn’t excuse it, but something to think about).
This brings me to Lucy Gray Baird. Her story is so achingly tragic it’s hard for me to even think of what to say. She’s a symbol, highlighting every awful injustice of the Capital and every bit of humanity and endurance of the districts. Her story was poetic and representative of past and future generations of hardship and struggle. She’s a character everyone can get behind, and I most certainly did. The worst thing was that sinking feeling throughout the book, knowing what would happen, knowing she would not have her due justice or peace.
What was most amazing was seeing their stories intertwining. Coriolanus, who had such a profound impact on the Hunger Games going forward, and Lucy, who had an equally profound impact on the rebel cause going forward. They were always doomed to fail and, in the end, the book left me with a sense of unrest and sadness. But it almost had to be that way. This is in stark contrast to the swell of peace at the end of the original trilogy, finally righting all the wrongs left open at the end of this book.
I know the Hunger Games is not everyone’s cup of tea, but this book ravaged me. I daresay I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the originals (I know that might sound like sacrilege but it’s how I feel).
Anyway, I will be going to see the movie and I am absolutely planning on sobbing just like I did while I was reading the book. The end. *bows