The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Series)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a disappointing prequel to the thought-provoking Hunger Games series.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games pre-quel). Scholastic, 2020. 538 pages.

Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15

Recommended For: Young Adult, ages 15+

Coriolanus Snow is born to leadership. Appearing every inch the best that the Capitol can offer, he is charmingly eager to mentor a tribute in the upcoming Hunger Games (the 10th games). Mentoring the winning tribute will secure future glory and a position of power. When Snow is assigned the girl tribute from District #12, however, he begins to despair. If ever there was an unpromising tribute, Lucy Gray Baird is it.

Appearances can be deceiving. Not only is there more than meets the eye to both Lucy and Coriolanus, there’s more going on behind the scenes at the Capitol than Coriolanus first understood. He is soon caught in a tangled web of his desire for self preservation, sympathy (affection?) for Lucy, and revulsion at the lengths to which the Capitol will go to ensure a good show. Will he end up siding with those in the districts alongside Lucy? Or will he succumb to the temptation of power at great cost?

The Hunger Games series had its own issues, and we’ve looked at them before. Despite its issues, The Hunger Games is a very thought-provoking series. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is more disturbing thematically, more violent, and less well-written. Where Hunger Games portrayed a hero, rising up against an unfair society and resisting evil, Songbirds shows the other side in stark prose: a villain rising up to perpetrate the very evils that Katniss Everdeen fights. A soul’s descent into calculating villainy is fearsome and disturbing.

Collins’s writing is uneven, and the book is simply too long for the story it tells. Anyone who has read The Hunger Games knows Coriolanus’s future position before reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so, while Panem’s history is interesting, the ending isn’t a surprise. That being said, this will be interesting reading for fans of The Hunger Games, and many teens will want to read it.

Considerations:

• Violence: Many tributes die in this book, sometimes horrifically. Other characters suffer disturbing injuries.
• LGBTQ Elements: (Thanks to a reader for reminding me!) There are some somewhat minor characters that make reference to same sex partners, so these elements are present in the book.
• Characterization: Snow is disturbing in so many respects. If your teens read this, do talk with them about Snow’s character, the choices he makes, and what he might have done differently. You might also ask what the adults in his life could have done differently to reach out to him.
• Thematic connections: Many teens will read this book. If you have students in your classroom or library who are interested in it, take the time to ask them some follow-up questions about our choices, the effects of poverty, the effects of a government desperate to maintain power, the effects of disenfranchisement (like the districts). Also ask: do you like the book? It will be make for good follow-up with conversations with teens! This is a book they will want to talk about.

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 2 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 3 out of 5

Review updated 10/27/20

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: Hunger Games, part one
• A Resource: Dystopia, Dead Ahead (part one of a series about dystopian fiction)

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