Date: April 12, 2025
Author: Suzanne Collin’s
Title: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes
Did you know Mz. Suzanne Collin’s wrote a 4th Hunger Game book? It’s been about 8 years since I read the initial trilogy and felt like I owed it to the legacy to give this book a whirl. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to feel about this newest addition. I say that because at the time when I originally read the first 3 books I did so back-to-back, and mind you, I felt it was overkill. One too many war scenes in a row did me in.
I did however learn the fate of the rebel war Katniss and Peeta helped start, and it ended up with the odds not being ever in their favor.
This newest book takes place years after the war ended. The Hunger Games survived the war and still continues into the stories’ present day. An awful and sadistic sport reminiscent to me of the gladiators in the arenas from long ago.
The basic bones of the book remained the same. Totally different story though. In fact, the only mention of Katniss is by way of the plant that is her namesake, also known as (per this book) swamp potatoes.
Young Coriolanus Snow, President Snow’s descendent, was raised knowing only the horrible wake of destruction the rebel war had created and left behind as a reminder. Reminder of the constant fear of not knowing when the next meal would be, fear of not having a next meal, even worse, the fear that to survive, the next meal may need to be cannibalistic, etc.
Having been through such atrocities one would think young Snow would be humbled, knowing how easily it is to fall from lofty arenas into financial ruin. Alas, he was to learn no such lesson.
*Spoiler Alert
In this story Coriolanus Snow falls in love with the girl he has to mentor for the games, and through some good old fashioned deceit young Snow and his lover pulled out on top. Only to be found out by the headmaster of all his dirty deeds and the trickery he had used to pull off their win. His punishment? Banishment to the districts for the next 20 years in service to the capitol as a grunt for the Peacekeepers. So, he requests district 12 to go be with his lover and his request is granted.
The lessons young Snow was taught thus far had culminated in the creation of a heartless killer, devoid of all emotions and becoming colder and harder with every passing day. An example; Snow recorded his ‘best friend’ committing treason and sends that info to the capitol, effectively placing his friend at the end of a hangman’s noose. Shortly after in the timeline Snow became terrified the gun he had used as a murder weapon was being analyzed for his DNA as we speak, so made plans with his lover of escape. Ironically, this plan runs along the same treasonous vein as his ‘best friend’s’ had. Just as he’s on his way towards this new freedom with his lover he stumbles upon a cache of guns and low and behold there was the murder weapon! He was off the hook. Or was he? Does his lover put 2 and 2 together on time? Will they be pitted against each other in their own private version of the Hunger Games?
I considered putting it down. But I’m glad I didn’t. As Mz. Collin’s likes to say in this story, ‘Snow lands on top.’ And boy did he ever!
Several days later and I looked up this book online. It turns out this is the prequel to the trilogy. This was President Snow as a young man. I had it totally backwards, I thought this was a continuation from where it left off and that President Snow was either the granddaddy or the actual dad to Coriolanus Snow. But it’s him.
Whoa. Total mind blow.