Book Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 517
Started/Ended Date: March 2 – March 5
Total Reading Time: 9 hours 48 minutes

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, 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.

I first read The Hunger Games when everyone else read them – right when they came out in 2008, 2009, and 2010. So between the ages of 12 and 14, I, like many other girls, was Hunger Games obsessed. I devoured the books, learned how to braid my hair, and tried my hand at archery (unsuccessful). I think that I would have enjoyed this book much more if I had read it back in my teens.

My love of reading has remained since my teenage years, but my taste has evolved. YA books just don’t do it for me now that I’m not a YA. But, despite it not being my usual taste, I didn’t hate it. We watched the movie the same night that I finished the book and I will say that the book was much better in my opinion.

The relationship between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus was interesting. It went from Coriolanus wanting her to survive in order for him to be the winning mentor, to falling for her and wanting her to survive so that they could be together. When she does win and is taken back to District 12 and Coriolanus is forced to become a Peace Keeper as punishment, he decides to follow her back to 12. To me, it feels like once they are more on an even playing field, where Coriolanus is not in charge of Lucy Gray, the appeal of the relationship kind of fizzles out and Coriolanus ends up trying to kill her in the end.

Another part that has stuck with me is when Coriolanus is reflecting on his relationship with Lucy Gray and he makes the decision that if he ever marries, he will marry someone who he doesn’t like, or preferably someone he hates, so that no one will ever have the access or the power to hurt him the way that Lucy Gray did. The theme of love versus power and how they interact was a strong one in this story and was deeper than I was expecting from a YA book.

What did you think of this book? Let me know in the comments!