Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

5/5

This is going to be my entirely spoiler-free review because I know a lot of people don't have three sisters pressuring them to read the book as quickly as possible. I didn't have super high expectations going into this because I hate President Snow and I don't usually care for prequels- especially posthumous redemption arcs. I was pleasantly surprised by this one though because I loved it! It had everything that made me love the series as a middle schooler but was able to retain my interest an entire decade later. I don't find many series that can do that, I certainly didn't feel that way about any Harry Potter add-ons. So if you're on the fence about reading this because you don't want to taint the memory I strongly recommend reading it!

Unlike other prequels that come out after the originals, I wouldn't recommend reading this before the main trilogy. It was almost like a treasure hunt connecting all of the dots. The actual games were nearly unrecognizable from the glamor that we grew accustomed to in the originals. Yet they provide such great exposition and background that I never knew I needed. It's been a while since I did a re-read of the originals, but everything seemed to fit so well without any glaring continuity issues. Writing from the future seems to create a lot of those in other series, this one is just an all-around great addition though.

Suzanne Collins did an amazing job of balancing good and evil. I don't think that I was ever free of my hatred for Snow, but I learned more about him and was able to support a few of his earlier decisions. His eventual arc towards President Snow made complete sense and his opposition towards Katniss further clarified. The whole time, I couldn't believe the connections between their stories. I know it was designed that way but it was done so seamlessly that you can't help but forget that.

I'll definitely be recommending this to all of my friends- there's no reason not to read it! It's a little on the long side of things but honestly it goes so fast you don't even realize it. I'm usually against authors stretching things out indefinitely, this made me reconsider that. If Suzanne Collins can so seamlessly blend the story lines of separate stories then I want a Haymitch story too, and a Finnick one and an Annie one and just like all the characters keep them coming!