The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

This book nullifies my headcanon that District 4 is in Atlantic Canada so I will simply ignore its existence from here on out 👍

Good book. But I couldn't stand being in Snow's POV. He's repulsive with how he rationalizes the awful stuff he's done. Definitely makes you hate him more when looking at the Hunger Games trilogy with Katniss
Also, justice for Sejanus and Lucy Gray! Idc if it's unlikely, she lives in my book

The last section lets this book down for me, the whole book was a little slow- but i didn't dislike that. The last 50 pages or so are just a turnabout speedrun with - for me, an unsatisfying ending. i know things can't be wrapped up in a bow but i do feel a certain character was let down and lacked a lot of agency. i wish we could have seen more of her own perspective, mixed/changing feelings and agenda.

I was very enthralled by parts of it and thought Snow was written very well, always teetering between charming and terrifying. I found my self simultaneously cheering for she being unnerved by the romance, i think this is exactly what Collins was going for. I would have liked Tigris to have a larger role, she was a very interesting character especially knowing where she ends up!

The Mockingjay symbolism was interesting but was a bit in your face by the end of it

Really more of a 3.5 but rounded to 4 for sheer love of the Trilogy itself.

I love a good novel or novella detailing how a villian became just that. It leads to a better understanding, most times, of why they are how they are. If I had read this as a stand-alone, and had no knowledge of the main series (which I LOVE) I would have rated lower.

While I loved the story behind Snow and how the games actually became what they are, this was a very slow, and oftentimes boring read. Even with the slow presentation, the beginning of the book is where my fascination and enjoyment really held. It waned greatly after the games were over.

I also think the history of Snow could have been made with a lot less pages. The endless amount of Lucy Gray and the Covey's songs, and how they were presented, broke my engagement more than kept it. I found myself skimming and sometimes outright skipping those parts.

I understand now all the disappointed views of this one BUT it does not, nor will it ever, take away my absolute love of The Hunger Games Trilogy.

Great background and interesting story explaining the hunger games and it's early incarnation.

90/100

Throughout the whole thing I was consistently pleasantly surprised. I really think this is up there with Mockingjay as one of, if not the best Hunger Games book. This thing is really long, five hundred pages, and it does drag in some parts— however, it always stops dragging and when it picks up it's very hard to put down, so it wasn't a huge issue to me. I loved Lucy Gray, seriously one of my favorite Hunger Games characters ever. She just radiated so much swag and energy. Since she is the love interest of the book and a singer, there are many passages of song in this novel, and I'm a fan of most of them. They get better as it goes on, I think, so while the lyrics kind of variy in writing quality, it barely matters, especially considering the glimpses of really nice lyrics that are present at times.
Now, it's no secret that the main character of this book is a young President Snow, so I think I can claim without it being a spoiler that Coriolanus is a horrible person. What's surprising, though, is that he comes from not only humble beginnings, but is actually a pretty good person. His father, now dead, was an honored general in Panem's first civil war, and he feels like he has to personally continue the glory that the Snow name holds. This, likely along with his nature, causes him to view human beings as tools for success rather than real people with inherent value. This is apparent early on if you pay attention, but this quality really starts to come out when he is presented with opportunities for power. I won't spoil the insanity that happens in the last couple chapters of this book, but it's fucked up, and I genuinely just hate this guy lol. The thing is, though, it's such a realistic feeling depiction of sociopaths and how they view themselves. His ego grows and grows to a nauseating degree, he uses everyone he knows, and he has a blatant disregard for human life. The more he justifies these things internally, the worse he becomes, and ultimately— you may consider this a spoiler— he throws away the opportunity for love, instead pursuing his own arbitrary standard for success.

ye gods this is the most boring book ive ever read 

Honestly... my favorite book out of all four! Maybe the first ties with it. Wonderfully written and love the characters and development.

I had a really hard time getting through this book. Part of it was my fault because I watched the movie first, so I knew what was going to happen. But another part of it was that this book is, in my opinion, too slow and dull. I feel like it's way longer than it needed to be.

I don't agree with the take that circumstances and people like Dr. Gaul are what caused Snow to go down a dark path. He is opportunistic, selfish and self-serving from the very beginning, and he simply indulges his worst instincts one perfect rationalization after another. The way he incriminates Sejanus is just pure manipulation mastery. Snow is someone who's just patiently waiting to be given enough power to show his true colors with no repercussions.

I have to say I am extremely glad the author didn't try to write a story that makes you sympathize with him and justify his actions. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

A little note: if I hear "Snow lands on top" one more time...

being in snow’s head for 16 hours (audiobook) was EXHAUSTING. but what a supervillain! his inner thoughts really got kinda scary at the end.

i liked how this book gave me a lot of insight into the WHYs of the hunger games. i liked the politics of it and i liked hearing his inner thoughts and turmoil as he justified his actions and worldview.

i loved all the easter eggs and tie-ins to the original series. and i loved that every time he showed his true colors i could think about how he gets his comeuppance in such an unwittingly personal way.

Welcome back to the world of the Hunger Games! In this prequel to the original trilogy, Collins has taken the reader back 64 years to the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Many areas of the Capitol are still in shambles from the rebellion, and a young Corialanus Snow (Coryo for short), has been selected to sponsor one of the 24 district tributes. The once prominent Snow family is struggling to maintain their facade of aristocracy, and the Capitol has promised free tuition for University to the winner’s sponsor. This is his only chance to turn his family legacy around.

Enter Lucy Gray Bird of District 12, she’s feisty, unpredictable, and, for Coryo, a bit enchanting. What follows is a constant battle for Coryo to weigh decisions based on survival or morals. His biggest challenge is how to take this young performing gypsy, and turn her into a real contender. Collins’ perspective on Snow’s story makes you root for him, even though you know where he ends up, which is masterful storytelling.

Snow makes many missteps in his journey to bring Lucy to the winner’s circle, and he has no shortage of enemies along the way. The Dean has it out for him, the game master is psycho, and a classmate who feels he abandoned her. An unlikely friendship, results in his mistakes not causing him more turmoil, but Snow can’t seem to keep the Devil off his shoulder.

This was an epically imaginative visit to Coryo’s start as the villain, and made so much about him in the trilogy make sense. I felt like it tied up all my questions, but gave me so much I didn’t know I was missing in the overall Hunger Games world. As always, Collins’ builds a world you can fall into and literally play in your head like a movie while reading. If you are a fan of the original story of Katniss, you will not be disappointed with this one. I can’t wait to read Sunrise on the Reaping!

More complicated than other books in the series and more violent because the games are low-tech. Fantastic book.

I'm so fucking awed by this book. Seeing the world through Coriolanus's eyes was... Definitely a new perspective. One I don't think I will be incrementing in my own life. But the corruption arc is so well pulled, and logical. Everything he does is justified, and has roots clearly laid from the beginning of the book. My jaw dropped at the end of my reading. Twice. In ten minutes. And I definitely will have to read it again, just to try and understand Lucy Gray a bit better too.

The kind of book that makes you struggle each page

I hateeeeee this man. Hate him. Sejanus, Lucy gray and reaper slayed tho. 

I didn't read this when it came out in 2020 because I didn't think I could handle reading about the rise of a fascist country which makes it funny (?) that I read it this year.

Of course, Collins handled it perfectly and I really loved how she showed that even "good" people who object to terrible things can become complicit. She's the GOAT!

A Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes is such an interesting character study of how a person can spiral into the worst version of themselves. Snow is, even at his best, a terribly selfish and possessive man. Every character in this book shows different sides to humanity, and it does so brilliantly. Katniss was Snow's karma in so many ways. 

A fascinating insight into a young Coriolanus Snow’s mind.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book because well, Snow is horrible and why would I want to get inside his head? But the book captured me since the first chapter.

This is a villain origin story done right. Even though I disagree with Coriolanus’s decisions and way of thinking, you can see why and how he got there. He is the result of the struggles he faced in childhood plus the influence the society around had in him. It feels eerily realistic, it reflects the real world and real people in an almost scary way. The events with Lucy Gray and his role as her mentor in the Hunger Games were only the last straw for him to snap and become who we see in the HG trilogy.

Lucy Gray was also an interesting character and seeing her through Coriolanus’s unreliable POV made her even more compelling.

I went into this book ready to hate on Snow some more, but in came Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom. If I disliked this version of Coriolanus (right before he became a monster), I HATED Highbottom and Gaul. Highbottom is a petty adult who had a vendetta against a teenager for something he had no idea about. And don’t get me started on Gaul. That woman is the equivalent of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and worse. You can see where Snow learned all his tricks from. Gaul is despicable.

I had originally rated the book 4.5 stars because the third part dragged for too long, in my opinion. However, I decided to give it the 5 starts because overall the book is amazing and the attention to detail is remarkable. Suzanne Collins is a genius. Now to patiently wait for Haymitch’s prequel.

You know the sentiment when you are sitting in an unnecessarily long meeting and think “this could have been an email”? Well, this could have been a novella. Instead it's drags you along and loses it's momentum all the time through repetition. Coriolanus is unlikable, which isn't a bad thing - I love me a good villain - but being stuck in his head for 500 pages is too much, too frustrating and not exciting enough. He's too much of a wimp. He's giving major Draco Malfoy in his third year vibes. But without moving on from it. While I enjoying being back in this world and appreciated all the little easter eggs, I wish this book was half as long.

Suzanne Collins does not let you down with this prequel to The Hunger Games. I enjoyed getting to learn about Snow’s upbringing and background. I’m anxious for the 2nd one to come out in March - Sunrise on the Reaping - ai already preordered it!

City boy gone bad from his greatest fear of becoming a country bumpkin

I love these books so much. The ties between the two characters Katniss and Lucy Gray through music passed down through generations is ingenious to me. In this book you also get to see the full depths of Snows personality and ideologies through his inner monologue which is not portrayed in the movie. I read somewhere that Lucy Gray was the performer who had to fight and Katniss was the fighter who had to perform. Can’t wait for the next book to come out!

Summary: In this prequel to The Hunger Games series, readers gain insight into the youth and mind of Coriolanus Snow, who would later become the tyrannical president of Panem. At seventeen, Coriolanus has lost both of his parents and most of his family's wealth, and he is fighting to maintain an air of respectability in an attempt to gain power and influence in his society. When he becomes one of the first group of mentors in the Capitol's Hunger Games, he sees his opportunity to prove himself. He is disappointed at first to be assigned to mentor the girl from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird, but he soon realizes that he may just be able to leverage her charisma to help her win the games and, in turn, win himself fame and glory.

Idk how to rate this. I was in a weird space, I liked seeing more with the capitol and early days of the games and everything at that time. 

I didn't hate this. I really loved the way Collins ended the trilogy; it was so interesting and real, in a universe that wasn't very. So I was curious to see how she'd do Snow. I think the biggest issue I have is the pacing. The heel turn feels sudden and late, even if there are some smart breadcrumbs left along the whole journey. I also expected the heel turn to be in response to something but I think it was sly that it was basically always in him. He was never going to be anything else because of his basic flawed belief system. A lot of “banality of evil” stuff here. So I liked it overall but yeah I think it could've been better paced and while I thing Collin's is smarter than some of her “dystopian YA” peers about the things she writes about, I don't know that this one will stick with me too long, like the epilogue of the trilogy did.