For those looking for Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, you will not find her. You won’t find Peeta or Gale or even Haymitch. What you will find is a prequel, released last month, that gives our villain a backstory and highlights another District 12 Tribute that defies the odds.
Susanne Collins starts out by introducing us to an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow who has been selected in the 10th Hunger Games to serve as a Tribute Mentor. The once rich and affluent Snow’s have fallen on hard times in the Capital. Coriolanus hopes his assignment to mentor a Tribute will launch him back into the spotlight and allow him to win a scholarship that can bring the Snow’s back to their former glory. A Capitol loyalist, the young Snow believes in the games and their goal to keep the districts in line. But Snow is assigned a tribute from District 12, and a girl. Snow feels as if he’s been slapped in the face. Cursing his bad luck and believing the chances for a winning tribute having been squashed, he at least hopes to make his tribute likable and memorable. Once Lucy Grey Bairde opens her mouth to sing, the jaded Snow feels like his luck might not have been that bad after all. As his family always said, Snow falls on top.
Collins takes us on a journey with the teenage Snow as he grapples with his urge to save Lucy while staying true to the Capitol-and his goal to regain the Snow family’s reputation. The journey will remind the reader of the “Star Wars” prequels where we see young Anakin grapple with many of the same feelings and the choices they inform- love, hope, morality, friendship, loyalty, and power. Do the ends justify the means? It is a question Snow and Anakin have to answer in their respective journeys to the ultimate role of the villain.
The reader will find that many elements of the story are familiar and one might say overdone. And it is true. It doesn’t really hurt the book, however. The reader will feel satisfied with the ending. Likely, they will immediately go back to reread the trilogy so they can put the new puzzle pieces in place. (The reader will enjoy the ‘rose’ symbol’s unveiling in particular). While not as compelling as the Hunger Games, the prequel feels necessary to the trilogy and is a satisfying read. The story, while predictable at times, holds its own.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is available for purchase now. A film based on the book is already in the works. Keep your eyes open for it and may the odds ever be in your favor.
Written by Michelle Haab
