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

It finally happened – I’m finally in on the whole Hunger Games thing… and I’m not sure what to think.

Somehow, I never managed to get caught up in the Hunger Games the first time around. Never read a single one of the books, even though they should be right up my alley. Never even seen any of the films, and I even saw the first Twilight movie (at the cinema!)

I got this book for Christmas from my brother-in-law, and though it’s taken me far too long to get through it (more than 6 months, somehow?? I don’t know how that happened…) I was actually very excited to start it. I’d picked up that there was a new movie out recently, and I figured this was a good chance to finally jump into this universe.

The story follows Coriolanus, a young, high-achieving student who finds himself becoming a mentor for one of the tributes in The Hunger Games. Winning or losing could mean life or death for them both – figuratively for Coriolanus and literally for his mentee. Of course I was intrigued!

The book is great. It’s well-written, easy to read, fun, engaging, and thrilling, and I enjoy Collins’ style of writing. She is excellent at building characters,  great at making them come to life on the page, and they all stand out as something unique. I got really invested in all of them.

The story, on the other hand, is a bit lackluster. I dare say it’s almost boring at times. I assume (and hope) that this has much to do with me reading a prequel to a series of books I only know of from memes, posts and references I’ve seen online, but honestly, the excitement curve for this book is very flat until the last 5-8% of the book. For some reason, I just didn’t find time to care about what happened to Coriolanus, his mentee, or any of the other Hunger Games contestant. It never seemed.. dangerous, do you know what I mean? Sure, there’s some conspiring and intrigue amongst the other mentors, but nothing… nothing that seemed like it matter too much.

But of course, I kept going, because I always keep going, and I’m SO GLAD I did. Because the ending, those last 5%, really pull it all together in a magnificent way. If you DNF this book before you get to that bit, you’re going to regret it.

What I struggled with the most, however, was the world. At no point in this book did I understand where, or when, I was. Is this an urban fantasy setting? A sci-fi, off-world site spinning around in space? Is it on Earth? I get that we’re in Panem, that we’re in the Capitol or the surrounding Districts, but where are those? There constant references to things, electricity, concrete, whiskey, guitars, DNA tests and so on, that makes me think this is on Earth, but at the same time, no references to placed, countries or place names I recognize. Again, probably a me-problem, since I have no knowledge of the Hunger Games universe, but it left me very confused a lot of the time.

All in all, a good, slow-burn urban fantasy that you’ll probably love if you’re into the Hunger Games. For me… let’s just say I don’t see myself picking up the other books anytime soon.

What do you think about the Hunger Games? Have you read this book? Are you Collins’ biggest fan? Or are you less impressed, like me? Let me know in the comments!

And as always – I’d love it if you found time to check out my books. If you’re into crime thrillers and psychological horror, you can find them all right here -> Books by Trey

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