Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Image: Scholastic

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~14 hours. Narrated by Santino Fontana. Scholastic Audio, May, 2020. 9781338635218. (Review of e-audio downloaded from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. This is a prequel to The Hunger Games, which was published in 2008. The reaping for the tenth Hunger Games is about to occur and Coriolanus Snow has nothing to wear. He and his family also have little to eat though they still retain their penthouse apartment and some standing in the Capitol. Coryo, as his cousin, Tigris likes to call him, is a senior at the academy. His prospects after graduation are grim since his family has no money to pay for college. The Gamemaker, sensing flagging interest in the Hunger Games, changed the rules. Tributes in the tenth Hunger Games are to be matched with a student mentor from the academy. Coryo hopes to be matched with a strong tribute, win the Hunger Games, and secure his future. His hopes are dashed when he is assigned to Lucy Gray Baird, a folk singer from District 12, the coal mining district, the poorest district. 

This prequel doesn't have the nonstop suspense of the original trilogy, though there are a number of grisly moments. It's much more philosophical; examining instead, what in Coriolanus' youth laid the foundation for the vicious tyrant he became. I found it mildly interesting at times; but mostly felt that the narrative meandered and was overly convoluted. The Hunger Games was released shortly before I began blogging but I couldn't find if I reviewed it. I do distinctly remember hesitating before putting it on the YA shelf due to the intense violence. I also recall being less and less enamored of the sequels.

New-to-me narrator Fontana ably read; but the book wasn't ably produced, as there were frequent distractions due to volume switches between tracks. At times it sounded like a different narrator stepped in. Fans of the trilogy will definitely be interested in reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Of course I will be buying it for my library and of course students will swarm.