The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

"Ending felt rushed and sudden, but the book was well written and interesting. I enjoyed being put back into the world of Panem and learning about the background of the Hunger Games."

"Hopefully they will make a movie for this! 🙏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"

"On par with the original trilogy. I swear the Mandala effect has taken place because I swear his name was Cornelius. You wanted so badly for Coriolanus and Lucy Grey to be end game, but you knew it just wasn't ment to be. Great time ins with the original trilogy, it makes his fall at the end all the more brilliant, if not a little sadistic. We love a good villain origin story, but it made him seem more like a tragic character than an all out villain. 8/10"

"A great read to dive back into the hunger games after 10+ years since reading the original series. Collins did a great job detailing Snow’s history and the mindset he has that made him the villain in the original series. Some parts were slow, but I was engaged!! "

"What an incredible book!!! "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" was such an interesting and fascinating read!!! It was wonderful to finally get some background history to build up the world we came to love with the first three books in the "Hunger Games" series. It was also mind-blowing to enter the young mind of the future President Snow and to follow his rise to power. I enjoyed every page of this book and was not expecting the twist at the very end! Be warned that young Coriolanus Snow will leave you speechless with his decisions and innermost thoughts! This book is definitely worth reading if you're a huge fan of the "Hunger Games" series!!! I would love to read any other books that are released that take place within the world of Panem!!!"

"A story that really brings The Hunger Games to life, I found myself rooting for someone I knew was a villain!! This story really captures the idea that bad people don’t really know that they’re bad…. Or maybe they just ignore it. "

"Great Prequel. "

"Coriolanus Snow was a very well written character. For huge portions, you can love him and understand his emotions/emotional reasoning. These events have happened long ago and can't be changed or influenced by anyone we know in the original series. You think going into it that it has to be something later in life that makes him THE President Snow but there are moments where you see him turning into something...other. Moments where you go 'WTF' where he's 17. And that's good writing!"

"2.75 star. I found the plot very interesting since it was about how President Snow came to be. But since you were with him instead of the tributes it was as if we were outside the action and disconnected. The tributes always have much more to offer to the story. While Snow was under privileged he didn't have as much to lose. I would have preferred maybe more POV's.<br/><br/>The story did make me realize how Snow could have burned his way to the top. He was scary clever. But honestly his point of no return wasn't believable. Snow was pretty much a decent guy until about 30 min left of the audiobook. There was no gradual step for the turn it just happened.<br/><br/>I might be a little more harsh on this review because of the audiobook narrator Santino Fontana. He did a good job with the male voices but the female ones were very exaggerated. And the singing I wanted to pull my hair out. He just read it in a weird clipped tone.<br/><br/>I also couldn't get invested in the characters they were very underdeveloped. No one stood out to me. And not going to lie I did go into this thinking it would be action packed and rich like The Hunger Games so that added another layer of disappointment."

"I give this book a 6.5-7/10 it was way too long and a lot of the stuff in here was filler and wasn’t interesting to read even if it wasn’t necessary to the plot. I read this before the movie but I can say that the movie is a 9/10!! I think it was made for the screen and it was a lot better than the book. It doesn’t really show why Snow becomes evil like people say it does I think it just shows how Snow was always evil. This book didn’t need to exist but it didn’t not need to exist. If your a die hard hunger games fan like myself it is a must but if you just casually enjoy the series then I wouldn’t say you have to read it, the movie is just fine!"