A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is fascinating: it gives us insight into the workings of the capitol and how it was effected during the war, as well as the early shapings of the games we know during the hunger games trilogy. 

Snow's perspective is deeply fascinating because you can see the root of his reasoning even if it is deeply flawed and selfish. He is able to justify his actions through a lense of survival, forgetting that (as the tributes in the arena and especially Lucy Gray show) there are moments in survival where you can still show kindness and humanity. 

Unfortunately, the narrative bounces around too much to place this in the same ballpark as the hunger games trilogy. The pacing feels horrendously off at times.