This is my glowing and SPOILER FREE review of Collins’ latest novel: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (available to buy here!).
I was so surprised to hear about this release (and don’t even get me started on Stephanie Myer’s new book) – it feels a bit like I’ve randomly been sent back in time to 2010. I didn’t have high expectations honestly, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the writing, and I enjoyed the fact it made me think! It’s not often a YA book can do all those things so well.
Synopsis:
“Snow lands on top.”
Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Set 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes offers the reader the background history of Coriolanus Snow, the boy who will eventually become President Snow, ruler of Panem. In the novel, Coriolanus is in his final year of school, dirt poor and concealing it as best he can, when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Snow, the female District 12 tribute. As their relationship changes, so does Coriolanus.
This book could be described as elevated YA – it’s clearly suitable for a YA readership, but would definitely be enjoyed (because of its complexity and detail) by an older reader.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes answers two key questions from The Hunger Games:
- How did Coriolanus Snow become President Snow?
- How did the Hunger Games become the Hunger Games?
My thoughts:
First of all, know that this is different from The Hunger Games. Collins’ writing style has changed a little, she focuses on character development rather than plot, and I think this is for the better!
So, this is a genuinely wonderful read (if you already know and love The Hunger Games universe). However, I don’t see how this book could have much significance for you if you hadn’t already read the original trilogy. Collins seems very much to have written for a readership who read her original books. While this sounds negative, I actually think it has defined The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, making it all the more effective (for her intended reader).
It seems to me that Collins had this backstory in mind before she wrote The Hunger Games, that’s how excellently written it is! The entire novel is an explanation, an explanation of how President Snow became himself, and how the Hunger Games came to exist. It’s excellent done, she references all kinds of motifs, songs and locations. It’s a wonderful sort of reverse foreshadowing, and I really admire Collins as a writer for pulling this off so fluidly and naturally.
I found it really interesting in how Collins justified the extreme and almost unbelievable setting of her original trilogy through this novel. She manages to explain how and why events and attitudes came to exist, and illustrates the gradual nature of this process, as well as how extensively it was fuelled by fear. As such, The Hunger Games almost become more realistic. Less YA, and more sophisticated, more plausible due to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The book makes it very clear that President Snow wasn’t the first sadist, and certainly won’t be the last, despite the outcome of the original trilogy.
“You can blame it on the circumstances, the environment, but you made the choices you made, no one else. It’s a lot to take in all at once, but it’s essential that you make an effort to answer that question. Who are human beings? Because who we are determines the type of governing we need.”
Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
As you follow Coriolanus Snow on his journey into adulthood, Collins explores accountability, and encourages the reader to consider the difference between nature and nurture. You, the reader, are left to decide: is Coriolanus Snow’s evil in his nature, or was he nurtured towards evil by others? This difficult question is made all the more challenging by this follow up question: does the answer matter? Does it matter how you came to be evil? Or is it irrelevant? After all, evil is evil.
Favourite or forgettable?
Favourite. I recommend you read it. Seriously.
That being said, I actually think you need to read The Hunger Games to fully appreciate it, so if you haven’t already, then definitely do that first!
It’s an interesting conundrum, because it is a prequel book after all, so you’d expect it to be better when read before the trilogy. But, like I said earlier, I think that’s because Collins seemed to write it for her original readership.
If you loved this, read this:
- The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins [obviously!] (available to purchase here!)
- Divergent by Veronica Roth [dystopian YA] (available to purchase here!)
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld [dystopian YA] (available to purchase here!)
- Enders Game by Orson Scott Card [dystopia, science-fiction] (available to purchase here!)
- The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau [dystopian YA] (available to purchase here!)
- Matched by Ally Condie [dystopian YA] (available to purchase here!)
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury [a classic, dystopian fiction] (available to purchase here!)
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood [a classic, great entry book to adult dystopia] (available to purchase here!)
Note the amazon purchase links in this post are affiliate links. This means that, should you purchase the books through my link, I earn a very small commission! You don’t pay any extra!