That Ballad of Songbird and Snake

by Dwayne Crossley

Ambition will fuel him.
Competition will drive him.
But power has its price. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 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 outmaneuvre 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 favour 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.

Genres: Book Club

127 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2023

Reviews

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a phenomenal addition to the hunger games book series. Getting to understand Snows character and origin was thrilling and made a lot of sense. I watched the movie first and must say, that although I liked it a lot, it does not show us much of what is going on inside Snow and we, as viewers, get tricked by his charm as much as people around him. Its just after getting front row seats to his brain we truly understand him.
Suzanne Collins is a brilliant writer in my opinion and it is shown in this book too.

(I listened to the audiobook read by Santino Fontana. He fitted the role of Snow I think, but the songs were a bit funny, which I get if you don't know the melody to them.)

[Alexandra Harvie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love the Hunger Games series so this book was a great read to get a better understanding of what happened in the past. It’s a bit of a slow read at the start but it does get better the more you read it. ✨

[Hannah Searing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah slayed I'll edit this later for a better review but loved the way the way snow remained unlikeable and unbearable but still entertaining

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good background story for the main villain — it gave si much more depth to the original Hunger Games series. I also liked that, at least for me, Snow was consistently unlikeable throughout the book, and his evilness was always there in some form.

This book wasn’t as easy read as the previous books but still, it was enjoyable. 3.8/5⭐️

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me realise that Collins is a great author and is so good at character development and world building despite the fact that at the end of the day she writes teen dystopia. She is the originator of teen dystopia though. Which probably explains why she’s so good.

[Abi Cheek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too many snakes and not enough songbirds, but still a solid read! This book went into a lot more detail regarding Corio’s perspective than the movie, which I quite enjoyed. He’s a bad guy but really hot, so it’s fine

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to create too much sympathy for a future tyrant. But it is well written.

[Casey Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I'm in love! Inspired to start the series over!

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was slow and honestly seemed to drag. It only really picked up in the last 30 pages. It was okay but nothing like the orignal Hunger Games books.

[Hajira ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

SNOW LANDS ON TOP 🔝🔝🔝🔝

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it until the end . I felt that I didn’t understand how the love that was supposed to be so strong gave way to the possibility of murder.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started slow for me then picked up a little.

[Stephanie Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, might be better than the original series. Much more bleak though, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of picking this one up.

[keiko yunata · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1/5

[Alexander Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why are the starving the tributes? What is this, some kind of hunger games?

[Sehri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just pure amazing!!

[Felicity Abel · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinda slow because i watched the movie first

[Athena Yu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just as good, if not better than the first book. I <333333333 Lucy Gray, she is such a diva. But as a wise person once said: "DID I FINISH THIS BOOK OR DID THIS BOOK FINISH ME" Anyways, it was nice to read about Snow's villain arc.

all of the above are true except i realized this wasn't the real book. it was a 5 star though

[Vic Didi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Florence Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally amazing. It’s so fucked but so good. I don’t know what to do with myself now 😂

[Jessica Overton · Rating 4 out of 5]

"snow lands on top"
bruh I thought the movie was good...THEN i read the book!!
I wish I had read the book first because I found myself wanting to rush past the information I already knew and I didn't like that. Over all it was such a good read and watching Snow lose his mind on the page was c r a z y

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really excited as I was reading through this book as I am invested in the hunger games. However, in hind site - it wasn't as good as the first 3 books. It was still a good story and much more detailed than the movie.

[Author Anthony Guiffreda Guiffreda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool at the end. Was pretty good through the meat of the book but there were some parts that I did not enjoy. Overall though worth reading to learn about President Snow!