I Finally Read The Hunger Games Prequel
By: Megan R. Clark
Tags: Review, Fiction, Pop Culture, Reading, Books

Background

This past summer, Collins published a prequel to her hit series titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. On first glance, it feels out of place compared to the original trilogy, all of which boast a short and snappy title (i.e. Catching Fire, Mockingjay). While the title is a tad wordy for my taste, it certainly catches one’s attention. The summary reads:

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute…and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Back of hardcover version of the novel. Photo by Megan R. Clark

I purchased the book for my dad for his birthday in June. He and I shared a love for the original trilogy, which we read in quick succession one week when my youngest sister was hospitalized for pneumonia. I felt inspired and driven by Katniss’s love for her sister and dedication to doing what’s right. My dad liked having a distraction, I think. Regardless, we devoured Collins’ words and looked forward to seeing the films.

The final book in the original series was released in 2010, which means it has been ten years without anything new in print about the Games. Collins dropped her book at the best time: Right smack dab in the middle of quarantine when everyone was begging for stuff to do.

My dad read the novel quickly and let me borrow it after the fact. While that was at the end of June, I only picked up the book the other day. It had been sitting on my coffee table, begging to be opened, but I was concerned. The same way I was nervous about reading The Cursed Child (the on stage future world from the Harry Potter franchise).

I didn’t want to be disappointed.

Summary

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tells the story of a teenage future President of Panem, Coriolanus (Coryo to his friends and to us, as his name is a pain to type). The book opens with Coryo getting ready for the reaping, trying to decide what to wear. His cousin, Tigris, is a fashion student and promised to make him something great to wear so he wouldn’t be embarrassed. The Snow family only appears to be wealthy, but are actually financially struggling just as much as citizens in the Districts despite living in a huge penthouse in the center of the city. Coryo lives with his cousin and the Grandma’am (grandmother) in a penthouse in the Capitol. His father a war hero, his mother died during the childbirth of who should have been his sibling.

Photo by kevin laminto on Unsplash

It’s ten years after the end of the rebel war, and ten years into the Hunger Games. Seeing as it is an important anniversary, the Head Gamemaker, Dr. Gaul, decides to include some Capitol children as mentors to district tributes. She, along with the others involved in creating the Games, hopes to get more people involved and watching. No one wants to witness something so depressing every year; this seemed like a good way to get the Capitol involved.

Coryo along with 23 of his classmates embark on a journey to improve the Games and increase viewership throughout Panem. Between his friend Sejanus breaking into the arena, becoming infatuated with his tribute, and classmate Clemensia getting attacked by mutant snakes, Coryo is all but relieved when his tribute comes out victorious. However, Coryo manipulates the Games in a way to advantage Lucy Gray, his tribute. Because of his cheating, Coryo is forced to join the military force in Panem, the Peacekeepers.

Coryo requests District 12 in hopes that he can meet up with his beloved victor, and much to his surprise, Sejanus ends up being his bunkmate in the barracks. While he is relieved to have a familiar face, Sejanus proves to be a difficult housemate as a rebel sympathizer.

While in District 12, the Peacekeepers participate in hangings, help collect data for the Capitol on jabberjays and mockingjays in the woods, and attend music shows at the Hob. Coryo matures quickly in the few months he lives in District 12 and falls even more madly in love with Lucy Gray Baird.

The shift in Coryo’s mindset doesn’t become clear until the very end of the book, where he sabotage’s Sejanus’s plan to escape District 12 and head up North to be free. Sejanus is sentenced to be hanged for treason and Coryo can’t help but feel directly responsible for the death of his friend, a friend who thought of Coryo as a brother.

Photo by Diego González on Unsplash

Coryo and Lucy Gray decide to follow through with Sejanus’s plan and run away together to make a life for themselves away from Panem entirely, but Coryo backs out at the last minute because his fate changes. He gets accepted into an elite officer’s school and abandons Lucy Gray in the rain out by the lake. Coryo goes back to his barracks and gets on the aircraft that is set to take him to District 2 for school. However, it is intercepted by Dr. Gaul and Coryo finds himself back home at the Capitol and enrolled in University.

In the epilogue, reader’s find out that Coryo has all but been adopted by Sejanus’s parents and is fully taking advantage of them despite basically killing their son. He’s a student in the Capitol’s University and works directly under Dr. Gaul as a Gamemaker intern.