Genre: YA Dystopian
Published: May 19, 2020
Pages: 541
Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price.It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
I never would have thought that I'd feel empathy for President Snow or view him as a sympathetic character. And yet here we are. And I was so excited for this book to release, but it took me years to actually read it. I didn't get around to doing that until the movie was about to release and I had to get it done (because I can't watch the movie without reading the book first, obvs.) I regret waiting so long.
While the original trilogy had me feeling like there was no way Snow could possibly be a sympathetic character, this book made me feel real sorry for him, for a while at least. HIs life after the war absolutely sucked and the things he and his cousin had to do to save face for their grandmother were so sad.
What I really loved about this story, though, was seeing how Snow's involvement with the games as a mentor influenced the way the games continued, although also somewhat frustrating because it looked like the games were about to die and that would have been better for almost everyone. It was just so interesting seeing how the games were early on.
Even though I still hate Snow as a person, I have a better understanding of why he is the way he is. I also understand the games better. So for those reasons I give The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 5.00017 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Suzanne Collins has had a successful and prolific career writing for children's television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Collins made her mark in children's literature with the New York Times bestselling five-book series for middle-grade readers The Underland Chronicles, which has received numerous accolades in both the United States and abroad. In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age. Collins lives with her family in Connecticut.
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