Book Review: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games, #0.5

Publisher: Scholastic

Published Date: May 19, 2020

Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

517 Pages / 16 Hours 16 Minutes

Date Read: December 21-27, 2024

Format: 🎧

Source: Audible

This is a prequel to a completed series. As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

It's the 10th Annual Hunger Games in the Capitol. Eighteen-year-0ld Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his first shot at being a mentor in the games. The house of Snow is hiding it's struggles after falling on hard times but this could be Corio's chance at getting them out of the hardship. He soon learns that he has been given the lowest of the low in tributes, Lucy Gray from District 12. Corio must navigate keeping up with his social status, managing his feelings for this new tribute, and his desire to survive above all else.

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

I have avoided the movie until I could read the book and I am glad that I did. The book addressed a lot of the controversial reviews from the movie and I have always believed “the book is always better”. I liked the mental struggle of Coriolanus Snow. It kept me invested in the rest of the story. I would definitely recommend this book to those who wanted more background on the hunger games, anyone who likes dystopian books, and those who like very tame slow-burn romances.

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Now, let's get into the details!!

I liked the mental struggle of Coriolanus Snow. It kept me invested in the rest of the story. I kept wanting more and more from him and helped me understand his character from the original series. Let’s be real… most people hate President Snow in the main Hunger Games series. I was really hoping it would give me a little more insight into how he ended up being such an ass.

Some of the twists and turns of the plot surprised me as I learned the characters personalities. I think the author did a great job of painting a picture for each character. I honestly like that Suzanne is able to include so many characters without it being such a chaotic mess. This prequel was no different. We got to see Coriolanus, Lucy Gray, Tigris, Sejanus, and more with a decent amount of character building for each of them.

The final thing that I really enjoyed was learning the background of the games and how certain people came into power. The way that the games evolved and the way that it affected Coriolanus were interesting. It also showed that there were definitely worse people in the prequel setting than there were in the main trilogy.

The plot lulled and slowed at points throughout the book and I was a little concerned while reading that it would get dull. In my opinion it is worth it to just stick it out to the end. I am unsure of how I feel with the way that it ended because I wanted a little more than what the story gave us. I feel like it was almost set up for another story but not sure there’s enough content for the way that felt.

Narration Comments

In my opinion, the narrator spoke in a way that captured the personality of Coriolanus. I’ve seen that there are people who were upset that the narrator was different than the trilogy. Honestly, for my first audiobook, I really felt that it worked having Santino Fontana be the one to narrate it since it was based on Coriolanus’s perspective where the trilogy was from Katniss’ perspective. The only thing that I will say I did not enjoy was his interpretation of the songs.. to me it was a little cringe. Overall, though I was able to look past that.

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Ratings