Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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Wow. This was pointless. I understand why authors sometimes come back and do prequels to best-selling novels. You want to see how did person A get to where they are. But I really do not understand why anyone cared at all about Snow. Collins does not provide any insight into the character. And then the ending leaves some things unresolved that you can just ‘guess’ at. Ten bucks there’s another prequel coming out about [redacted] in a few years. And honestly, the worst thing about […]

Like karaoke for books

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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Did you know Panem was pronounced “PAN-EM?” I sure didn’t. You emphasize both syllables apparently. That’s a benefit of listening to the audio book. But you know what might not be a benefit of an audiobook? Hearing a man trying to do female voices. Now, I’ll admit that I listen to audio books at a fast pace, which obviously affects the vibe. But I couldn’t help think that the females in this book sounded like female South Park characters. And it gets worse when some […]

Stop trying to make known villains into troubled protagonists

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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I don’t know why I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes other than the fact I am a completionist and it is officially part of The Hunger Games trilogy because it is a pet peeve of mine when authors play revisionist history within their canon. Our protagonist is Coriolanus Snow, a Capital resident who is finishing up high school and tapped to mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games. On the line as a mentor is the opportunity to attend the University on a scholarship and while […]

Hard to really make a successful prequel, and this book doesn’t change my opinion of that.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins

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I gave in to my curiosity despite knowing this probably would not be a satisfying read, and it went about as well as I expected it to. A misfire for me. (I was going to round up to three stars, but one thing annoyed me a great deal even beyond what I expected, so rounding down to two.) I really wasn’t going to read this*, but then I read in several reviews that part of it was about how the Hunger Games itself evolved and […]

Coriolanus release the fistful of cabbage into the pot of boiling water and swore that one day it would never pass his lips again.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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The book begins with Coriolanus Snow, 18 year old son of a somewhat fallen house, in secondary academy 11 or so years after the big war. They are soon coming up to the tenth annual Hunger Games, which are not yet the Hunger Games we all know, but barely more than a joyless, punitive bloodbath. For the first time, members of the academy will be selected to act as mentors to the tributes (yes like Haymitch would become) to both promote and care for tributes. […]



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