I absolutely love The Hunger Games series, so I was really excited to dive into The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I mean, who wouldn’t be curious about President Snow’s backstory, right?

That said… this one was a bit of a slow burn. There was a lot of buildup before the real excitement kicked in, and honestly, it felt like it dragged in places. I think it could’ve been trimmed down a bit and still packed the same punch.

I get that the goal was to show us how Snow became the villain we all love to hate—but even after seeing his side of things, I still don’t feel like it excused the man he turned into. No amount of childhood trauma justifies turning into that guy.

All in all, I’m glad I read it. It added some depth to the world of Panem and gave me a few things to think about… but it didn’t quite live up to the magic of the original series.

3.5 stars from me!