The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020)

I put off reading this Hunger Games prequel for a while. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a story centered on young President Snow, and it just seemed like there’s enough untapped potential elsewhere in the world of Panem that would’ve interested me more. But I’ve talked with other people who liked the book, and as casting announcements continue to come out for the film adaptation (Rachel Zegler and Peter Dinklage and Viola Davis, oh my!), I decided to take the plunge.

More than 60 years before the events of the original series, Coriolanus Snow is strategizing for his future. Since the Districts’ rebellion against the Capitol, his once-wealthy family has been trying to maintain appearances, but they’re desperate. His best hope to get a university scholarship and preserve the family’s status is to do well in a new program, in which Capitol students mentor tributes in the Hunger Games. Coriolanus is disappointed to find out he’s being saddled with the long-shot District 12 girl, but Lucy Gray Baird defies his expectations in more ways than one.

In a story like this, the most important thing is how the main series antagonist is portrayed in his backstory. On the whole, I’m pleased. There are a lot of factors in Coriolanus’s life that influence how he grows up, from his proud, fastidiously patriotic grandmother to the careful calculations he makes to appear like the family is still rich, when in fact they barely scrape together enough to eat. However, this isn’t a Misunderstood Woobie backstory—though his life in the Capitol isn’t charmed, Coriolanus still makes his own decisions, and as he weighs his options, he continually chooses actions that are guided by self-interest and fear.

I appreciate that. We see how tough life can be for him, but instead of gaining empathy for those who are suffering even more, he grasps for his slice of the pie before anyone else can take it from him. He sees the ruthlessness and cruelty of the Capitol up close and personal, but rather than reject its propaganda, he clings even tighter to the strictures it’s taught him. Through mentoring in the Hunger Games, he’s increasingly forced to reckon with a girl from the Districts as an actual human being, but the only way he allows himself to do that is to view her as not being truly District.

I still like the major non-Snow characters better and would’ve rather gotten a story focused on them. The idea that the Hunger Games are relatively new and the format is still being ironed out is interesting—this is only the 10^th Hunger Games—and I think there would’ve been enough of a draw for fans with the series without the Coriolanus “hook.” I love Lucy Gray, who’s a very different sort of character to Katniss but strong in a way that’s entirely her own. She’s also a musician, one of the itinerant Covey people, and the musical passages in the book remind me that The Hunger Games series handles music so well, which can be really tricky to pull off on the page. Other characters who really intrigue me are Sejanus, a boy from District 2 who’s been struggling with his allegiances since his rich/influential father moved them to the Capitol, and Dr. Gaul, the sadistic Head Gamemaker.

Getting back to the idea of the potential of stories about Panem, while I understand its narrative purpose, I’m a little disappointed that Lucy Gray is from District 12. Yes, 12 is the absolute bottom of the District barrel—Coriolanus is affronted to be assigned its girl tribute, and Lucy Gray’s extreme underdog status adds further drama to her time in the Arena. Furthermore, it allows for references that resonate deeply with the original series. However, there are twelve Districts (originally thirteen,) and yet, across four books now, we’ve still mainly just seen District 12 and the Capitol. I really wish we could get stories set elsewhere in Panem. The plot of this book wouldn’t be significantly different if Lucy Gray was reaped from 11 instead of 12, which would’ve given us the opportunity to explore a different region of the country, and I think stories set in 3 or 4 someday could be very different and cool.

Warnings

Strong violence (including children being forced to murder each other for sport,) drinking, disturbing imagery, and strong thematic elements.