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Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel) (The Hunger Games) Paperback – 8 July 2021

by Suzanne Collins (Author)

35,833 ratings

"Everything you would expect from Collins is here: fraught teenage love; plenty of violence... the themes of friendship, betrayal, authority and oppression will please and thrill" The Guardian

**"It works beautifully... please don't make us wait another decade" *The Times***

Ambition will fuel him.
Competition will drive him.
But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuvre his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - ; every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favour or failure, triumph or ruin. 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.

Three books, four films and one worldwide phenomenon, The Hunger Games changed the face of global YA.

Reading age

12 - 18 years
Print length

528 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Scholastic
Publication date

8 July 2021
ISBN-10

0702309516
ISBN-13

978-0702309519
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Product details

Publisher : Scholastic; 1st edition (8 July 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 528 pages
ISBN-10 : 0702309516
ISBN-13 : 978-0702309519
Reading age : 12 - 18 years
Item Weight : 110 g

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35,833 ratings

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2 star		1%
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Nitya Anand

Shoot the Editors with a Paper Bullet

Reviewed in India on 12 December 2020

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The storyline is excellent as expected in the prequel to the series, but my ten-year old, who is crazy for Hunger Games, often finds it difficult to comprehend The Ballad.

When I checked the text, I realised the boy could not figure out things because the 'pronoun back-reference' is often not clear. Check chapter four of the book. One has to track back to know 'she' refers to the grandmother or the girl whom Coriolanus is going to receive at the railway station. (Sorry, I am not clear about the names as I have not read any of the books.)

I had to help out my son with the noun mentioned on the previous page (three paragraphs behind), even when the noun 'grandmother' had already occurred in between, which referred to the pronoun 'she'. Then, my son could make sense of the prose on the pages.

My son said, 'But the paragraph has changed, right? Why hasn't she repeated the name?' Poor boy!

Well, not Suzanne Collins' error. But, yeah, one should shoot the editor with a paper bullet made out of a style guide's page, as a punishment for confusing children.

5 people found this helpful

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Apoorva

FOR ALL THE HUNGER GAMES FANS( TRIBUTES ) OUT THERE...

Reviewed in India on 14 July 2020

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Recommended age group: 11+

"Snow lands on top."

(Oh Gosh where to start with this...)

The book is beautifully articulated with brilliant foreshadowing and references to the future.
The original symbols and motifs that have been part of the trilogy , had a major roles and thus one gets to know of their deeper history, how the mockingjay ,being a symbol of rebellion manages to get on Coriolanus Snow's nerves.
Since it took place around the tenth hunger games, the reader manages to gain an all-round perspective about the rebellion and the establishment of the games.

Usually I find prequels that are realised after the series end to be lethargic , however this one stood apart and defied the odds. Suzanne Collins did a fantastic job on this one.

And lastly,

the show is not over until the mockingjay sings.

6 people found this helpful

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Sayan Biswas

Its a descent read

Reviewed in India on 20 June 2020

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Read this book not as an adventure or thriller, but rather a philosophical dialogue which questions and satires the known society. It puts out questions about the society we live in, and what our position is and how we can attempts to change it.
Also, Snow’s position as a confused but steady teenager is very relatable. His doomed love with Lucy Gray adds spice to the whole drama. We get to know how a open-minded, well behaved teenager becomes the notorious personality we see in the trilogy.

2 people found this helpful

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Mega

An excellent addition to the trilogy

Reviewed in India on 27 October 2020

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There are no spoilers in this review, so it's quite safe to read :)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was not at all like what I thought it would be, and I loved it. It's like the Hunger Games books in many ways - answering many questions and yet leaving many unanswered. It is the thrill of recognizing certain aspects of the trilogy in this novel that made it so interesting; that, and the endless action. Each chapter contains so many surprises, and the plot twists and turns in such a way that I can never predict what's going to happen next. This is a must-read for all returning Hunger Games readers and dystopian fiction lovers. Can't wait for the movie!

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Neeta s.

Good condition on delivery just woww😍🤑

Reviewed in India on 29 May 2020

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M soo glad i bought it......😍😍 Was waiting for it from the day it was announced m soo happyy i waited till i was into the main story to review it its really soo interesting nd yeah the book is designed by a very good designer its cover page is literally just woww.....💯💯😇😍 I didn't have a bookmark though nd amazon sent it. Its bright colours are the most beautiful things in the world......nd yeah m not spilling any tea here i don't want to ruin it for anyone but you must buy it its an absolutely pro tip😉😉

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Amazon Customer

AMAZING BOOK !!!!!!!!!!!

Reviewed in India on 24 July 2020

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Amazing book by Collins, the reveals were just awesome. As we track Snow's journey to power, we see his life, hardships and little easter-egg reference to the original trilogy.
But since I bought hardcover version, it had some problems. Its book jacket was bend and the main logo of the book was kinda botched.
Other than than, definitely buy it. H.G fans will LOVE IT !!!!

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Aishwarya of House Stark

Excellent Buy!

Reviewed in India on 16 October 2020

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The book is excellent.Is worthy to be a part of Hunger Games franchise. It's from Snow's point of view and tells us exactly how exactly he went from poor boy from fallen glory to tyrant. The writer sometimes explores boringly detailed parts of story, but in the end entire story comes together in a perfect manner.Buy it without second thoughts.

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Stanley Mathers

Book pages are torn

Reviewed in India on 13 December 2020

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I gifted it to someone, and now it feels so bad, a BIG disappointment..

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The Schoolkeeper

A real prequel for once

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 May 2020

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Most prequels I’ve read are pretty annoying because they’re not really prequels at all, more like continuations of the original story from before rather than after the main timeline. This isn’t one of those. It’s set 64 years before the first Hunger Games story in a Panem that’s barely recovered from the rebellion. The Capitol is precariously balanced at a place where the Old Order and the New Money are seesawing for control. In some ways it reminded me of the Atlanta in Gone with The Wind where the same thing was happening. The Capitol characters have surnames familiar to reader of the original trilogy Heavensbee, Crane and of course Snow.

Good story perhaps aimed at a slightly older readership and well worth a look.

39 people found this helpful

Arkham Reviews

Fascinating Character Study

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 May 2020

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This is such a difficult novel to review, despite the fact that I actually enjoyed reading it, as I don't think that it is what a lot of fans were expecting. The Hunger Games Trilogy featured fast-paced violence and a strong female protagonist. Due to the focus on Coriolanus Snow, this prequel has an entirely different feel. It is a much slower novel, focusing more on the world-building and philosophy that would eventually shape Snow into the tyrannical president of Panem.

The world-building of this novel is captivating. It is set 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games and only 10 years after the war. Due to this, we see Capitol in a very different light. The city is still war-torn and rife with poverty. The Hunger Games exists, but is a primal shade of what it would later become. Everyone bares scars of what happened in the conflict and would rather forget what happened. I personally found it interesting to see Panem in such a state, especially as Snow and his class gradually began to shape The Hunger Games into something closer to what fans will recognise.

Yet, I did sometimes think that the novel was too heavy-handed with its call-backs. While some of the minor changes, such as the introduction of sponsors and betting to the Hunger Games, were nice little nods, other things were less subtle. This was particularly obvious in the final section of the story, in which Coriolanus witnesses the origin of The Hanging Tree song and gains an irrational hatred of Mockingjays. Yeah, that is certainly on the nose.

In terms of pacing, I do think that this book has the potential to divide fans. Due to its focus on Coriolanus, it is no where near as fast-paced as the other books. After all, Coryo is a stage removed from proceedings. He is not in the arena fighting - he is watching from the safety of the mentors' box. What this did give the time for was more of a character study. We followed Coriolanus in his daily life within the Capitol as he attended school and mentored Lucy Gray. This allowed readers to see Panem from the other side - a world that is far different from the empoverished life of Katniss Everdeen.

Yet, at times, the novel could be incredibly slow. While I was utterly captivated by the first two-thirds of the novel, the section after the climax of the 10th Hunger Games did start to lose me a little. Coriolanus's time in District 12 was surprisingly uneventful for the most part. While things did pick up again over the last 40 pages, for the most it seemed to be a bit of a come down after the excitement of the Games.

In terms of character, the novel was also perhaps a little varied. As a character study of Coriolanus Snow, it was spectacular. Coryo is a fantastically complex character. His empoverished upbringing and desire to protect his family could have made him incredibly sympathetic, but this was offset by his ambition and underlying nationalism. Even at his most vulnerable, there was always a sense that Coryo would do anything to come out on top, which prevented him from ever being truly likeable. As a villain origin story, I would say that this was incredibly effective. You could certainly understand Coriolanus, but you could never like him.

Yet, while there was a large supporting cast, most of these faded into the background. This was, in part, because Coryo was so self-serving that he never really paid much attention to him. The two that really shone were Lucy Gray and Sejanus. Lucy Gray made for a compelling love-interest who was refreshingly different from Katniss. While her motivations were occasionally a little hard to grasp, she was very lovable and served as a representation of how different Coriolanus's life could be.

Sejanus was also a fantastic character as he represented new money - a character unable to fit in with the Districts or the Capitol. Although his naivety grew more and more frustrating as the novel progressed, the situation he was in was terribly sad and held a mirror up to Coryo. Here was a person who had a similar education to Coriolanus, but his upbringing allowed him to see the world in a very different light.

All in all, I actually really enjoyed reading this novel. While I can see why some fans were disappointed, I found it to be a wonderful character study that added a lot of depth to the series's villain. It's definitely one that I wold recommend.

34 people found this helpful

Amechatclotho

A trip backwards in time - Coriolanus's POV

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2020

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What this book is: A book in the form of a character sketch for the development of both President Snow, and The Hunger Games.
What this book is not: Fully immersive into the different districts, a full accounting of President Snow's rise to power.
Whilst I love The Hunger Games, and a fan of YA/NA dystopia, I was a bit disappointed in BoSaS. Told completely from Coriolanus Snow's point of view, it centres around the period shortly after the great war - when both he and the Hunger Games were in the process of change and development.
There was a noticeable attempt to conjoin this prequel to its subsequent time-delayed sequels, with often repeat callbacks to songs, names and references which are so blunt it feels like they have just been jammed in to 'lay the foundations' for The Hunger Games trilogy. It felt clumsy, grating, and quite superficial - with very little character development or depth - in fact, the most action happens in the last 20 or so pages, and feels entirely rushed at the end - and abruptly breaks off - making me wonder if Collins is planning another prequel-sequel - which would leave Coriolanus's teenage years behind and examine his development of the 30s-60's. It provides no content or understanding of the next three books in the series, which was a major disappointment. I had read expecting there to be some reference perhaps towards the end. This is a standalone book.
This is still an excellent book for understanding the structure of The Hunger Games in it's early development, but ironically, it lacks the charm and depth of any of the other three books in the series.

27 people found this helpful

Mrs Georgina A Howell

Wowie

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2020

Verified Purchase

I can just tell by the start tha tgis is the best yet! I love the description of the Grandma.
I think this is the first review....
Well its amazing, buy it. Its like it is glued to your hands once you buy it!
Well done Mrs Collins.

27 people found this helpful

Tamsyn Carne

Set aside a day...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2020

Verified Purchase

Like many I was dubious when this book was announced, thinking it was a money making exercise stretching out the franchise (looking at you JKR)
However, I could not have been more wrong. This story is riveting- I read the whole thing in 4 hours and just could not put it down.
So many Easter Eggs for HG fans, origins and explanations.
I’m truly hoping there will be more to this one story, I found it more engaging than the original trilogy.

20 people found this helpful

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