The prequel to The Hunger Games series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes described the year
that Coriolanus Snow was 18 years old.
It was intended to give the reader some insight into how he became the
evil President of Panem.
As expected, it was not a pretty picture. However, it was
depressing since he seemed like a fairly normal down-on-his-luck, albeit
clever, teenager for most of the novel. Granted, he was quite narcissistic and
concerned with self-preservation above all else but many teenagers are. Then, things took a very wrong turn near the
end of the novel. It was sudden and, frankly, out of character. But, he found
himself making a few bad choices without regret and the story suddenly felt
ingenuine to me.
The best part of the novel is learning more about the
history of the Hunger Games rather than learning about Snow’s past. But, compared to the trilogy novels, it’s not
as exciting or fast-paced and I don’t feel that this novel advanced the overall
story arc narrative. We all knew Snow was evil and this just shows us how he
became evil which isn’t a particularly engaging storyline.
Of course, the novel contains some signature brilliance by Suzanne Collins but, if you loved the trilogy, this is not a must read.
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