In Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
More than a decade since the release of The Hunger Games, we go back once again to the dystopian world of Panem. The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes is the prequel to the highly acclaimed series. When it came out, it received mixed reviews since the protagonist is none other than President Snow. But that didn’t push me away, especially since I didn’t enjoy The Hunger Games as much as everyone else seemed to. I wanted one thing from this book and one thing only: to see more of Panem.
Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Author: Suzanne Collins Series: The Hunger Games #4 Publication year: 2020 Length: 16 hours 16 minutes Genre: YA, Dystopia Pace: Medium Story focus: Character
Ten years after the rebellion of District 13, Coriolanus Snow is a mentor in the Hunger Games. The house of Snow has fallen since the war. While keeping up appearances, they are broke and on the verge of losing all power, the name Snow still has. Coriolanus is the last chance to bring the family name to a higher status again. If only he could be the mentor of the winning tribute on the annual Hunger Games. Unfortunately, his given the worst tribute, the girl from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird. Even with the odds against his favour, Coriolanus will do anything to avoid the shame and humiliation of being the one losing the power the name Snow carries.
There is a 64-year gap between the prequel and the first book in the series, which allows the story to emphasise how the games came to be. And while they changed a lot, one thing is the same, how the Capitol views the people from the districts. It’s the tenth annual Hunger Games, and the Capitol faces a problem: people don’t want to watch the Games. It’s brutal and a reminder of the war. Even the young mentors don’t see the point of the Games anymore, Coriolanus included. However, that doesn’t change how they view people from the Districts as inferior, criminals, and animals. And it’s interesting to see how putting on a show with some pretty dresses transforms how they view the Games. It’s still brutal, but now they aren’t just kids. They are characters. And you want the character you like to survive.
While everyone seems to love The Hunger Games wholeheartedly, I can’t. I enjoyed the first book a lot, but it went downhill from there. I didn’t like Katniss as a protagonist. She’s most often pushed to her limits to rebel instead of doing it on her own. I explain this in much more detail in my review of the series. But I’m bringing this up because I much prefer Coriolanus as a protagonist. Even though I know he will be a villain. Even though he isn’t a good person from the start. I like him as a character. He’s the one moving the story along.
While I was enjoying a lot the beginning of the book and being back at the Games, especially the early ones, after that, my enjoyment went downhill. I considered DNFing the book with only 100 pages left. I was bored. I spoiled myself intentionally to have a reason to continue reading. What I was enjoying about Corio became dull as the story moved along. Without getting into spoiler territory, the story doesn’t end at the games. In fact, these games are the quickest ones in the whole series. And what comes next is, first of all, confusion because it wasn’t making any sense to me the shift in the plot, and then monologue after monologue of Corio’s thoughts that were the same ones from the very beginning. This isn’t the origin story of a villain because he has always been one. Since the first chapter, Corio is the same person. This book is more of the awakening of a villain.
When I reached the end, I asked myself: “What was the point?” What was the point of everything that happened in the last couple of chapters? It feels like the author went in one direction, then ran out of pages and had to wrap it up quickly. When so much of the book is the most mundane thing, that doesn’t add anything to the story. The proactive character Corio is, in the beginning, disappears halfway, only to return in the end. And I’m glad he finally assumes the role! Too bad it was in the last few pages.
Although, as I say, I only wanted one thing out of this book, to know more about Panem, and that was successful in a way. While in the trilogy, Panem seems to exist as an island, to be the only thing that exists, the world seems bigger. While Panem is still just the Capitol with the Districts, there’s an idea that more people exist living outside of Panem. And I would love to know more about it. I want a book called The History of Panem. Going over everything, from how Panem was founded, why, when, what existed before, what exists around, how the mutes and Avocs came to be, and the evolution to the technologically advanced arena we see in The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins created a fascinating world that I want to know everything about, and sadly, she’s determined to keep it vague.
My expectations weren’t that high, and yet, I’m still disappointed. It’s not a bad book, but for me, it lost track of the point. It gave more lore about Panem and the beginning of the Hunger Games, but not enough for that to be the objective of the story. And while I was expecting a villain origin story, it also isn’t that. Coriolanus Snow is the same in the beginning as he is in the end. Not a single action he does is to benefit anyone other than himself, even if, at first glance, doesn’t seem like it. He’s a lost little boy not confident enough to assume the role of a villain he so desperately wants. And so, he’s just there. Waiting for the right opportunity so he can land on top.
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