Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Diving Back Into the World In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins is back with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel novel to her famous Hunger Games trilogy. Set in the tenth year of the Hunger Games, the novel follows Coriolanus Snow and how he impacted the brutal reminder of a game.

This is a novel that fans have been discussing since it was announced. Some fans were concerned about having Snow as the main perspective. More specifically, they feared that it was going to romanticize the character.

Having finished The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I can assure you that is not true. This is the origin of the Hunger Games through and through. That means there are no pulled punches. This tale explicitly explains how the Hunger Games became the event we all know it as. And how Snow played a part in it.

Writing

If you’re hoping that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be every bit as brutal and intense as the original series, fear not. It most certainly is. In some ways, it felt even more brutal since the tale is told by somebody who helped to create all that pain. 

This novel is five hundred and forty pages long, but trust me, it earned every page. Every moment of this story is fraught, filled with reminders of the world we’ve come to love (and fear). Collins didn’t hold back in her writing, providing lush and horrifying descriptions of the world, the war, and the current plight.

Then there are the characters. This is a world fully fleshed out by the characters that reside in it. Snow and the tributes take center stage, naturally. But many secondary characters played huge parts as well. Some were designed to be villains, others to obfuscate what was occurring. Then there were the ones intended to break out hearts.

All things considered, this novel is everything fans of the series deserved. It did justice to the original trilogy. On that note, there are dozens of small and large references to be found within these pages. It was a nice little addition for the fans.

 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a fascinating novel for various reasons. I truly believe that every reader will find a different way to interpret some of the elements within this novel. I believe that it is a tale of compromise. Snow went into the Hunger Games not liking the reminder, exactly, but not against it either. Slowly, piece by piece, he sacrificed more of his moral ground until he became the man we all know him as. It was fascinating to see it happen, albeit horrible.

Development

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was not a novel to be rushed. That isn’t to say it was slowly paced – it was anything but. It simply never felt like it was rushing through any description. Instead, each scene was set clearly, giving the characters time to grow and react to their new settings.

That added so much to the horror and impact of what was happening. There was plenty of time leading up to the Hunger Games, with more time spent during and after it. It was a comprehensive look at the politics and ramifications of altering the game.

Watching Snow’s character change throughout this novel was fascinating. I can see some of the points Collins was trying to make here, and I respect her so much for it. Likewise, I’m looking forward to seeing who they cast in the movie and how they bring that transition to life.

Conclusion

I’ll confess that I’m still reeling a bit from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It was even more intense and emotional than I had anticipated. And I walked into this novel expecting it to give me a good emotional punch or two.

What really hit me was the way Collins ended the novel. Not to mention at what point in the story we found our conclusion. Being a prequel, we always knew how things would turn out. Yet she still managed to throw a few surprises our way.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks | Quirky Cat’s Comics | The Book Review Crew | Monkeys Fighting Robots | Storygraph | Bookhype | Bookstagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Reedsy