lucybbookstuff 's review for:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

4.5

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I really liked this. I read it in 3 days. It was really fun reading it right after rereading the trilogy, because there are a lot of easter eggs and it was fun finding them. Also very cool to get more history of Panem.

I think a lot of folks were worried this book wouls try to make them like President Snow, who is so obviously intrinsically evil in the trilogy. It does tell his story of how he got there, but it is super subjective and lets you decide for yourself.

Personally, while I did feel for him and his situation, I definitely picked up on the edge of complete selfishness lying beneath all his decisions, that ultimately led him to be the evil President Snow we know. I also picked up on it with Lucy Gray, though for her it was more utter survival and protection of herself and her pack. Loved her character so much. Also... I'm fairly convinced that Maude Ivory is Katniss's grandmother (her father's mother).

Suzanne Collins can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned, and I hope she writes more in the THG universe eventually.

Sidenote: I read an interview with her in which she said that she writes all her books based her own explorations of war theory, and I think that is SO incredibly interesting.

Reread March 2025 (4 years later):

I feel comfortable downgrading this one from 5 to 4.5. I still think it's very good and fascinating, but it doesn't have even close to the same readability as the original trilogy. Nor does it hit as hard emotionally or as something to relate to.

Still glad we get this lore, though, and I still found the THG easter eggs fun to spot.