Book Review ~ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the first book I ever annotated while reading. I found that this book really described the initial mindset behind The Hunger Games. This book really showed how Lucy Gray was a performer who has to be transformed into a fighter while Snow was doing whatever he could to gain ranking. I could see how Snow’s mind changed from the beginning of the book to the very end which shows more of his current persona. Lucy Gray was my favorite character because of how smart and cunning she was in and out of the games. She knew exactly what she was doing.

The addition of the folk songs sang by her really spotlighted how much of a performer she was. Also, how much being a performer impacts the games of the people who are watching. It was to create more attention to the games. Having a performer singing would boost the ratings.

This book was 5 stars for me. I found a lot of things to highlight for later and I felt all sorts of emotions when reading it. I found myself questioning the start of the games and it answered a lot going forward. From someone who read The Hunger Games in middle school, this brought me back to that time and really could see where it all began.