The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Book Review)

I enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and so was excited to hear about the prequel. So does the prequel hold up to the original?

Upcoming Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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 outmanoeuvre 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.

The Hunger Games Prequel Stars a Young President Snow

The Hunger Games was originally a trilogy of books about the struggles of Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, has a different protagonist and is set sixty-four years before the first Hunger Games book.

So who is this new protagonist? A young Coriolanus Snow.