“People aren’t so bad, really. It’s what the world does to them.”

Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I will never get over how brilliant Suzanne Collins is. 

Much like Mockingjay, I didn’t really care much for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when it first came out. It just didn’t have the same hook the original trilogy had for me growing up. However, I was absolutely invested during this reread. 

TBoSaS is a prequel to The Hunger Games following Coriolanus Snow‘s villain origin story. Traumatized by the war that left his prestigious family name in shambles, Snow is now 18 and looking to find his way back to the top. His time comes when Academy students are selected to mentor the 24 tributes heading into the arena to fight in The Hunger Games. When Snow gets paired with District 12’s Lucy Gray, he’s sure he’s been set up to lose, but he and his girl will change the Games forever.

This book is a masterpiece cover to cover. The rise, fall and rise of Snow is so flawless as readers get to experience the choices he makes to fall into evil when he’s capable of so much goodness. There’s the overarching theme of good vs. evil in the beliefs between Snow and Lucy. Snow believes people are inherently violent while Lucy Gray insists people are inherently good. And that’s explored through every conflict the two find themselves in. We don’t get a lot of choices about where we end up in life, but when we do get to choose, which way do we go? 

Also, the symbolism is delicious. From the rooftop roses as a sign of wealth and reputation to the ice melting in the summer heat to represent the fleeting love between Lucy Gray and Snow, everything has a purpose. The curtains aren’t just blue because they’re blue. They’re BLUE. 

I also enjoyed the running motif of Lucy Gray’s ballads throughout the novel. They almost haunt the narrative as Snow listens and turns them over and over and over. 

There’s also the irony of Snow fearing Dr. Gaul and her becoming his mentor later. He chooses her and her way of thinking over Lucy Gray. He wants to be feared, as well, because fear means power and he is starving for it. 

Anywho … I could chat for hours about this book, but here’s all my thoughts on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. 

• I think what makes Snow such a great villain in THG is the fact he knows what it’s like to want, to starve, to survive any way you can. Starvation makes people desperate, not just for food. Snow knows firsthand, and he uses that to his advantage as president.
• Sejanus’ unique upbringing makes him less able to see the tributes as less than human that could’ve been him. The odds were just in his favor.
• Why The Hunger Games? To show power and control. To take away hope. Nobody is safe. Not even the most innocent. It’s the Capitol saying, “We kill your children because we can.”
• Lucy Gray and Snow feel like different sides of the same coin. They are so similar — orphans of the war left with scraps, performers in their own crowds, compassionate in their own way. However, the difference is in their genuineness. Lucy Grays is unapologetically herself, while Coryo adapts to be whoever he needs to be to suceed.
• The tributes weren’t seen as human in THG, but seeing them treated like animals in TBOSAS is sickening … but is it worse? Because at least the Capitol is being upfront about it. 
• It’s interesting Dr. Gaul scares Coryo. That’s the thing that throws him off. The Games aren’t so fun when you’re pieces in them. The irony is beautiful. The Capitol is supposed to protect all of them — Capitol and Districts — but it only looks out for a select few … if any. If they’re willing to kill 23 District children every year, why would Capitol kids be safe?
• I love that Lucy Gray calls Coryo out on his selfishness. He never saw her as a victory and didn’t care as long as she performed. That’s not fair to her. Her life doesn’t deserve to be an afterthought. The scholarship shouldn’t be what matters most.

• Snow being jealous of Lucy Gray and her possible boyfriend really shows his true colors. He wants control and power. He wants the attention. It’s all about him; not the fact Lucy Gray is literally singing for her life.

“What are lies but attempts to conceal some sort of weakness?”

• Snow understands what the Games are about even if he doesn’t have the words for it. It’s the sense of safety victory brings because you then have the power and control over the defeat. It’s a false sense of security watching the Capitol murder District children. But as Snow saw, the Capitol kids are also expendable in this never ending war.
• Snow sees the Games evolve from something people are ashamed of and almost disgusted by into a genuine source of entertainment. That’s his doing. Instead of pushing back along with his own disturbed feelings toward the Games, he makes it into something to celebrate. He allowed people to see children killing each other and bet on it.
• Pg. 202: “We’re still children, too.” … but you get to be children, while the District children are seen as less than human.
  • Also it erases the guilt from Snow. Should there even be guilt or blame? Lysistrata has it right … it doesn’t make it better they’re kids. The Capitol is using all of them to revamp their failing Games. It helps the government conceal some of the blame from themselves. The Capitol isn’t afraid to take the innocence of its own children.
• Snow entering the arena is a huge turning point for his character because it made him realize he’s the same as the tributes and so it creates that desperate need for separation between the two. You have to create more distance to feel safe, to keep order. Because the Games become too barbaric if you see so many similarities. You can see yourself in the arena., see yourself as a piece in the Games rather than a spectator.
  • Snow takes a life, and he will never be the same.
• The similarities between Snow and Katniss are insane and so strategic by SC. They are both survivors, they break the rules and laws to do it, they’re pawns of the Capitol, they both are forced into the arena and know what it’s like to be hungry, they both lost their fathers young, they’re punished by the Capitol for outsmarting the Games. The difference comes in the choices. Katniss sees the Games for what they are and holds onto that disgust in an effort to stop them. Snow finds them suitable punishment and works to continue them. They both have choices and Snow chooses to take the route to the top.

• Snow doesn’t have a line the way Katniss does when it comes to humanity. His survival is more selfish. Katniss is worried about her family not dying, while Snow is more worried about reputation.
• I’m trying to decide if Snow actually loves Lucy or if he loved what she did for him in bringing him attention, control and power. He loved that she was his.
• Katniss really was the perfect storm to spark the revolution. Being from District 12, being a survivalist and performer, “breaking” the rules, the love story, the Mockingjay angle and then District 13 … it made it personal for Snow to push back. He saw himself in her and he saw Lucy Gray.
• Snow’s disgust for the mockingjays makes so much sense the more I think about it. Because it’s proof of the Districts’ ability to survive and adapt. A mutation not of the capitol’s making but of nature. The district-born mockingbirds were able to “taint” the Capitol-bred jabberjays and the rebels used them against their enemies. Proof the Capitol can be outsmarted.
• Snow is a possessive freak and a rat. A RAT!
• Oh, the mockingjays can be symbolic of Snow, also. How he’s “losing” his capitol pedigree in the districts and how soon he may be more District than Capitol. That terrifies him. They see the Districts as less than, and he can’t let himself be seen the same way.
• Lucy’s song says so much about her. She’s a ghost of a girl. She seems to disappear. A performer you can’t forget, because you’ll remember her songs but that’s all.
• Snow sees the worst in people, while Lucy tries to see the best. She understands we are products of our environment, that we are what the world makes us. But we also have choice, and Snow chooses the Capitol every time because it’s easy.

“I think there’s a natural goodness built into human beings. You know when you’ve stepped across the line into evil, and it’s your life’s challenge to try and stay on the right side of that line.”

• Snow only loves Lucy Gray for what she gives him and when he has no other option. The moment he finds the guns and realizes he has a “better” option, he turns on her. He wanted whatever power he could have, and when he realized in the woods Lucy would have the upper hand, he cracked. 
• The symbolism of Snow tossing his mother’s powder and the family photos but keeping his father’s compass … a physical representation of his change. But also the snake bite not being venomous but leaving a scar as a permanent reminder of the exchange. He was weak once. Not again.
• The fact Sejanus’ parents take care of Snow after everything is diabolical. Nasty business from a nasty ass rat.

“Do you hear that, Coriolanus? It’s the sound of Snow falling.”

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