Jinny's Reviews > The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

It's been a long time since I've read The Hunger Games books ... Anyway, I had no idea there was a prequel novel released until the movie came out! Guess I've been living under a rock. Here I am, finally reading it.

So I want to preface this by saying I did like it, overall, but I have to admit, the pacing was quite slow. Certain parts felt boring. And you know, having read the previous trilogy, it's a bit repetitive to read about yet another Hunger Games tournament. Although, the actual tournament in this book is only 1/3 of the story. The first 1/3 was okay, the second part was the tournament and the last third overstayed its welcome.

I liked Coriolanus as the main character, even though he was the antagonist in the original trilogy. You can see he had the seeds of villainy from the beginning -- ambitious, concerned with reputation, his family name, not the greatest of friends -- but dressed up more positively. I think the best way to sum him up, is a quote from the movie (yes, I eventually watched it, haha): "We all do things we're not proud of to survive." If you didn't already know the story of this character from the original, you might never suspect the path Coriolanus eventually ends up on. But then also, the ending might shock you with how sudden he "switches" to being a bad guy.

I also enjoyed the romance aspect of the story. I really liked the idea of the mentor falling in love with his doomed Hunger Games tribute. (view spoiler)[But it was strange to me how the end of the novel kind of threw their relationship away abruptly. I don't mind that there was no happy ending with them and that they both kind of turned on one another. But what was weird was how abrupt and sudden it happened! He spends most of the novel in love with Lucy Gray, but then at the very end, when he was ready to leave Panem with her, he decides that actually, living as a poor person isn't going to be that great and he'd rather go back to the Capitol, even if it's without her. Lucy Gray, I guess, realizes that Coriolanus indirectly but purposely killed his friend, and rightfully feels nervous around him now. They part on terrible terms, both ready to kill one another. Like, I don't know, that just seemed like a huge 180 from their original feelings for one another, and for it all to happen over the span of what? 10 pages? It was so fast. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, it was a good read but I didn't fall in love with this as much as I did with The Hunger Games.