“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins is a must read for any Hunger Games fan. A prequel to the famous series, this book follows Coriolanus Snow as he attempts to mentor the District twelve tribute, Lucy Gray Though Coriolanus tries to maintain a distance from both the games and his tribute, he soon finds himself far more involved with Lucy Gray and the fate of District 12 than he expected. Eventually expelled from the Academy for tampering with equipment in the Games, he follows Lucy Gray back to District 12 where he works as a peacekeeper. However, this peaceful life is soon interrupted as a lifetime of deception and betrayals start to catch up with him. 

Through this book, we learn how Coriolanus transformed from an innocent school boy and Game Mentor to the vicious president of “Catching Fire”. It is fascinating to see how Lucy Gray and the Hunger Games change him from a social climber to an ambitious murder. There’s a bit of moral ambiguity in this book, since Snow often does the wrong things for the right reasons. We also get a glimpse of the reason behind President Snow’s hatred for Katniss and mockingjays, as well as Snow’s influence on the games themselves. I like that this book ties up the loose ends in the Hunger Game series and gives us a glimpse at the man behind the frigid facade of President Snow. 

Though this book has a slow start, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is an exciting read with many twists and a surprise ending. Between the danger of the arena and the danger in Coriolanus’s everyday life, this book is not short on suspense. Even when Coriolanus is in a relaxed situation, a few paragraphs later he’ll be fighting for his life. With a great plot, plenty of action, and an unexpected ending, I would highly recommend this book to any Hunger Games fan.