The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Tenth Hunger Games. The odds are against him. He has the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Apparently this is a hot take, but I loved this book.

Snow, the villain, the man

Let’s get one thing out of the way: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes does not romanticize, idolize, justify, or in any way make a hero of Coriolanus Snow. It took me a few chapters to get into the book, because we are spending it in Coriolanus’ head. While he lacks the position, age, or power to do anything terrible at the beginning, every step of his character development, every thought he has and choice he makes, leads clearly to who he becomes later in life. He was never and will never be a “good guy.”

But he is human. Which was one of the messages of the original series — every person involved in a war is human. Every good guy has flaws (like Gale with his bloodthirst.) And every bad guy has something relatable, admirable, or good in his life. This book shows us those pieces of Snow. Throughout these relatable and good things, he is still unquestionably a selfish, caustic, immoral, twisted character — and still human.

The nature of this story reminds me of conversations about real-life figures. George Washington is considered a hero, but he owned slaves. Hitler was a real-world villain, but he was great with children and had a steady romantic relationship. Nobody in this world is all good or all bad. Not even a dystopian villain like Snow.

The writing

The book is longer than it probably needs to be and drags in a few spots. When I thought back to what I would cut as a writer/editor, I couldn’t honestly decide. Every scene did feel relevant to the plot or character development, or a detail supporting the realism. I did finish it in two days. I needed to know what happened next!

This book maintains Suzanne Collins’ usual writing style. If you didn’t like it in the original trilogy, you’re not going to like it here. I always loved her simple, straightforward writing that puts complex, massive questions into stories that children can understand.

Yes, this book is also very philosophical. It deals a lot with questions of morality, ethics, and human nature. The thing is, so did the original books. That’s what made them so amazing and compelling, not just a story about death and violence and gore. The difference here is that the questions handled are spelled out instead of implied. Our main character engages with them directly. Katniss was a tough kid trying to protect her sister in a world that threw difficult choices at her, but Coriolanus is a student trying to achieve academic greatness and answer the assignments given to him. The different approach fits the character.

The ending was my favorite part. Everything in this story, and all the pieces connecting it to the world six decades later, came together. It may have taken its sweet time to get there, but I felt it was worth it.

I know many readers found the conclusion of the love story plot sudden, jarring, and unrealistic. But I think his nature and attitude as a lover led up to that ending quite clearly. As someone who has been in a relationship with an abusive, manipulative, unhealthy person before, the signs may have been more obvious to me than someone who isn’t a survivor of abuse.

I give this book four stars instead of five; the book really was too long, but I loved it. I’m so hopeful we’ll get more Hunger Games prequels with whatever characters Collins wants to write next.