The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) (The Hunger Games)

Ending felt rushed and sudden, but the book was well written and interesting. I enjoyed being put back into the world of Panem and learning about the background of the Hunger Games.

As a huge fan of the hunger games I was so excited to read this finally! I’ll be honest I had bought this from Costco back in 2020 simply because I saw it was a prequel to the series but I really didn’t know much about it and it wasn’t until the movie came out that I knew it was time to finally read it. The hype for the movie is huge but I’m not sure the book is as hyped and I can see why. It’s a good book and I love how many origin stories and connections we get to see but it definitely wasnt as exciting feeling as the original trilogy. I devored those books back in the day and this one, although good, didn’t captivate me the same way. I was surprised by how much I found myself liking Snow because of knowing how much I hate him in his later life. I don’t really buy into any theories of Lucy gray being related to katniss but I do see how we might think that. What I think was the coolest part of this book is seeing how far the hunger games have come from the 10th to the 74th. To know this part of the games history was erased yet it was the start for the way we know them is pretty mind boggling. Overall, I really enjoyed it but I think I’m more excited to go see the movie now.

A great prequel to the hunger games! Snow is such an interesting character. His thought process makes so many connections to the hunger games.

I enjoyed this book more than The Sunrise on the Reaping. I SAID WHAT I SAID. Maybe I’m biased because I watched the movie and thought the movie was amazing and explained everything so well. Either way, I thought Coryo’s background throughout the book led him to be the “great” President that we all know him as in The Hunger Games. The ties between “katniss” and “hanging tree” and “mockingjays” are little Easter eggs and make me want to reread and watch all the Hunger Game series.

3.0/5 stars

I went in to this book knowing that it was a prequel of sorts following the story of Coriolanus Snow, and I wasn't all that interested in his character, but because I loved The Hunger Games so much I couldn't pass it up. There were some high points along the way but a book that should have taken me 1-2 days to complete ended up taking me almost 2 weeks because I just could not get invested and seemed to seek out excuses to put it down. The Hunger Games will always be at the top of my all-time favorite reads and because of those I have tremendous respect for Suzanne Collins; I just cannot share the same enthusiasm for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and for that I am honestly saddened.