Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Blurb:
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 outmaneuver 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 favor 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.
Review:
I never read the Hunger Games and, like everyone who missed their teen dystopian era, I watched the films when they came out and moved on. So when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was on the docket for book club I jumped at the chance to read my first Suzanne Collins novel. I expected a fairly young adult feel and, though there’s an age appropriate naivety, the story came with really great undertones and deeper themes that made it a spectacular read for me. You show up knowing you’re faced with the makings of a villain, but instead of being told how to feel about or interpret it, Collins leaves those decisions up to you. I walked away surprised that I was wrestling with the whole affair on a personal level. I think I finally understand what the big hype is over The Hunger Games franchise.
From the start we’re brought into The Capitol ten years after the war where the elite are struggling to maintain their appearances with the conflict’s deprivation still a potent memory echoing within society. The 10th Annual Hunger Games is about to commence and desperate times are calling for the Snow family. Coriolanus sets out to help his family as they’ve fallen so far without his parents. You really feel for him, root for him. His choices all feel understandable and even valiant as he navigates the games, his friendships, and his relationship with his assigned tribute.
“Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.”
The overarching question I felt faced with in this villain origin story is: what exactly makes a villain? Whether it was in his genes, his propensity to self consumption, or a product of his circumstances, Collins leaves these ideas for us to ponder, as opposed to pushing one vein on the reader. Throughout the book we watch our protagonist baddie make what seem like all the right choices, but when we look back in retrospect we can see all the ways those choices served his own end. It was always about self propulsion rather than altruistically driven. His friend, or more acquaintance, Sejanus is used as a good foil to Coryo in this, making what seem like all the wrong choices for all the right reasons. These arcs lend to an overarching theme throughout the story…are people inherently good and become jaded by the world, or are they only good because they are controlled to do so? Dr. Gaul and Lucy Gray both keep this question in the forefront from their prospective angles as we watch the story unfold.
“That is the thing with giving your heart. You never wait for someone to ask. You hold it out and hope they want it.”
The country itself echos these conundrums. Panam is such an interesting world, with its classist struggles, post-war rationing and rebuilding, and authoritarian oppression. This story gives an earlier glimpse of a nation just getting the dictatorship legs we see in its The Hunger Games era. I loved getting greater insight into the Capitol and how it functions, as well as watching its trepidatious rise from the ashes, its elites squirming in their uncomfortable destitution. The academia structure of the first half of the book was a cool element, and seeing the lives of the children that will make up the future of Panam was a great social snapshot. And once the second half of the novel came along and we get to see what it’s really like living in the districts, as Coriolanus’s academic theories and assumptions are better tested.
And that’s what I loved most about this book. Coryo is a wonderful character. His arc was rich and made you question everything you know about the infamous Snow. Collins forces us to ultimately turn on ourselves, question what in our own lives could make us turn on our own moralities, what would we do with such circumstances? His evolution to villainy was slow, subtle, and though calculated, he seemed to be making the right moves. With Lucy Gray, Tigris and Sejanus all backing him, he really seemed to be set up for success. In reality he does end up successful, and you're left sad at what success truly means to him.
“The ability to control things. Yes, that was what he’d loved best of all.”
At the end of the day I'm in awe. I expected a slightly cringy teen novel, and instead I ate it up and was left wanting so much more. Suzanne Collins is out here writing some compelling stories that I think are pretty great thought experiments for both young adult and adult demographics.
This is a book that leaves you thoroughly entertained, and with some pretty great questions. I think it is seriously underrated. The movie is a huge disappointment compared to its literary counterpart, and you’ll miss the true messaging completely if you decide to skip over this read.
