The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins

 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins-517 pages

This is a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy set some 60 years before those books. Coriolanus Snow (President of Panem in the events of the Hunger Games trilogy) is the main protagonist. The story mostly follows the 10th Hunger Games and Snow's assignment as a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 girl tribute, while he attends the Capitol Academy. It also covers events that take place after the 10th Hunger Games. It's basically how Snow became President Snow by the time of The Hunger Games. It's a why behind the who. I found Snow's character arc in this book a bit lacking, however. It seems that because he was raised in the Capitol he believes he's better that the Districts and the Capitol is the only way to keep everyone safe and peaceful. He sort of pushes back against the Capitol a little during the Games, but then reverts to just going along with the Capitol afterwards. I will say it was boring at times and I wondered at times if this story was really necessary. I did find parts of the story interesting, especially during the 10th Hunger Games. A few things from the Hunger Games trilogy get some backstory, such as the origins of the "Hanging Tree" song. I don't really care too much about President Snow's origin story, though. I read this because the movie is set to release in theaters in November and I'm interested in watching it even so and I enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy. I liked this book (but didn't reaaalllly like it) and would give it 3 out of 5 stars.