Name: Siddharth
Grade: 10th
Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published in: 2020
Pages: 517
Rating: 4 stars
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is a prequel to “The Hunger Games” book series. It follows President Coriolanus Snow in his teenage years, when he is about to graduate from the Academy. Although the Snow family, which consists of Coriolanus’s grandmother and cousin, maintains the appearance of being wealthy, in reality they have nothing but their generations old penthouse apartment. This is a result of the war that occurred about a decade prior. So when the tenth annual Hunger Games comes around, and it’s announced that students from the academy would have the opportunity, Coriolanus sees it as an opportunity to earn a scholarship to the University and escape his family’s poverty.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked that the book showed a different perspective of the Hunger Games. It showed the views of the luxurious Capitol, who saw it as punishment for the Districts rebellion. The story sort of invokes a feeling of disgust, as you read about how casually the citizens of the Capitol regard the deaths of the children in the arena. This, however, is only a sign of the good writing that continues throughout the whole book. Pretty much the only thing I didn’t like was that the book was a little more drawn out than it needed to be. At 500 pages, there were a couple boring parts.
I would definitely recommend this book, as it was very enjoyable to read. Again it was interesting seeing the Hunger Games from a totally different perspective. I would recommend this book to all teens, but mainly fans of the original Hunger Games series.
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