When I heard that Suzanne Collins was writing a book about Snow as a teen..... I was very apprehensive. I thought this book was going to be a redemption book for Snow. I thought we were going to find out about how traumatic Snow's childhood was and then feel sorry for him and yay he's redeemed! This book was much more complex than that.

One thing I found really interesting about this book, was the actual Hunger Games event. In the original trilogy, we are always in the mind of Katniss. We experience The Hunger Games through the tribute. In this book we witness The Hunger Games through the eyes of the mentor, we see what's happening outside of the Games in the minds of the people who helped organise and create it. We see specific rules of the Games actually being formed.

As for Snow, was this a "redemption" book? No. We watch Snow undergo some extreme character development, however Collins does this in a way where we don't fall in love with him as a villain. There are definitely times where I felt sympathetic, but these moments were immediately followed by something Snow says or does that reminds me of my dislike towards his character.

As for the other characters... I really LOVED Lucy Gray and Sejanus. I think their characters were great.

This book raises the topic of human nature. Collins leaves the readers pondering the question, what is humanity at its roots? Without laws are humans wild, untamed, violent. Or are people monsters because of their exposure to a toxic and abusive world? What drives a human to kill? If a human is exposed to hatred and conflict, then that hatred and violence takes root inside them and it begins to spread. Are humans naturally monsters? I don't think so. Can growing up in an abusive world like The Hunger Games turn a person into a monster? For sure.
This book served as an extremely interesting character study and an exploration of the nature vs nurture debate