#35 [2023/CBR15] The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

It was only when the trailer for the new movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, popped up on my Youtube page that I realized there was another Hunger Games story that I'd somehow missed. I'd read the original Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins--really getting caught up in the action in the first book, but losing interest and gaining frustration by the last book. I never made it through all the movies, but it was an intriguing story that stuck with me. Thus, after watching the trailer, I immediately looked up The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020) and put a hold on it at my library.

Ballad is a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, taking place sixty-four years before Katniss Everdeen is forced to volunteer as tribute. The story follows Coriolanus Snow as he finishes his schooling in the Capitol. He comes from a prestigious family, but his parents died in the war, and their wealth was destroyed. He now lives in his old apartment with his grandmother and cousin, trying to keep up appearances, but barely able to feed themselves.

In an effort to drum up interest in the tenth year of The Hunger Games, the powers that be have decided to use chosen students as "mentors" for the Hunger Games participants. Snow feels like this is his big break, and hopes that it might lead to a scholarship to University. He is disappointed when he is assigned the female, District 12 tribute, hoping for someone more likely to win. However, when Lucy Gray Baird is chosen, she creates quite the scene, generating immediate interest in her at the Capitol. 

Snow does his best to befriend Lucy Gray and highlight both of them. These newer games are very different from the ones in the Hunger Games trilogy. The participants are reviled and starved. It is Snow that brings the idea of betting on participants and allowing viewers to send "gifts" of food and water to them. But it is still kill or be killed, and the Hunger Games goes on like it has before and will continue to for years.

Although I found parts of this book interesting, I also had a number of problems with it. I never quite bought into this world. It felt like there were too many convenient plot contrivances to make it feel real. It was hard to believe that Dr. Gaul had so much power over the privileged capitol children. And why was she even giving them assignments? She's not a teacher. 

I did find the actual games intense and interesting. However, there was so much violence and death--primarily visited on characters we barely knew--that it wasn't very affecting. Also, once the games ended, there was still a significant portion of the book left over. I thought the pacing slowed drastically, and I felt a little lost. Even though there was something of a love triangle here, it was not fun reading. I did not want Lucy Gray to end up with anyone. Snow was throwing red flags out right and left. He was impossible to root for, and I was often reminded of Anakin Skywalker.

I was impressed that Collins made another ending that is not neat and tidy. However, on the whole, I think Ballad suffers from many of the same issues as The Hunger Games Trilogy: if you look too closely, it doesn't make much sense. With that said, however, I think it's possible to make an entertaining movie out of this book. I wonder if they succeeded?

cbr15bingo: "Hold Steady" square for heading back into the Hunger Games arena one more time