The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I pre-ordered this the first day I could. Thanks to Prime, it came the day it was released, which was last week. I read it in a day. It was just as good as I thought it would be.

That being said, I did not feel it appropriate to write/record/post a book review within the next few days.  It'd gotten even harder. I honestly had every intention of doing this yesterday, but after getting home from delivering the graduation signs and my adopted senior's gift, I was riding the proverbial high.  I have proofread numerous scholarship thank you notes and cried with pride.  I guess that makes the crash worse.

I see you.  I hear you.  I will try to understand you.  I just ask you see me too.

So, this review.  

Set 64 years before The Hunger Games, this is a prequel, the story of one of my favorite villains, Coriolanus Snow.  The equivalent of a high school senior in the Capital, the once weighty Snow name is fading fast.  Coriolanus lives with his cousin (that's TIGRIS, people) and their grandmother.  With little money, they are facing what we'd call foreclosure while wearing hand-me-downs and eating broth for dinner. 

It is the 10th anniversary of the Games, and it's a new idea to pair one of the seniors with a Tribute.  Coriolanus is paired with the District 12 girl, Lucy Gray Baird.

Now I don't want to spoil too much, but...

-It's pretty obvious this is the first book in a new series/duology/trilogy.

-"The Hanging Tree" writer/singer is Lucy Gray. Katniss learned the song from her father. Coincidence?  I would bet the farm not.

-There are several families that are legacy and who are either older adults or a younger generation in the original trilogy, which does get somewhat confusing.

And speaking just of Coriolanus, to quote the villain in another of my favorite trilogies, "the villain is always the hero, in his own story"....

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.