Back to the Start

I had put this book, the Hunger Games prequel, on hold awhile ago from Libby.  It just came in the other day and so I was finally able to listen to it.  I usually prefer to read the prequels of a series prior to reading the rest, regardless of the order of publication, however in this case I'd already read The Hunger Games trilogy multiple times.  I was pleased at how easily I was able to remember things and get right back into the world.  I was also pleased that I did end up liking the book, in spite of it not being a pleasant one to read to completion.  I don't know that any Dystopian book or series is supposed to be extremely pleasant, however.  In any case, I am glad I was able to read this one, and the following is my short review.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

I was a little wary of reading this book.  I am a fan of The Hunger Games and sometimes when an author adds to a series so long after it's initial publication it can be found wanting.  I am happy to say that was not the case here.  I found it very intriguing to learn about how the Capitol and Snow himself were in the early years after the war and in the beginning stages of the Hunger Games.  Some of the circumstances and situations that can be traced back to the events in this book were quite shocking.  Even knowing where Snow ends up, I was still hoping for his redemption.  I find it to be a compliment to the author that even knowing how much I would come to hate Snow, I was still pulling for him to be a decent human being.  We all know how that turned out, however, so I am left a bit sad at the ending of this book... but then, I don't think it was meant to be happy.