The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Discussion Questions written by the Ent. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian, Adventure, Drama
Length: ~750 pages
Age suggested: 12 and up
Release Date: May 19th, 2020
Warnings: Lots of death (some to children), a few instances of scary creature interactions, several drinking references, and a few mild sexual references
Quick The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Summary
Set in the Hunger Games universe, we witness the 10th Hunger Games. During this year, the idea of mentors are added to the games. Coriolanus Snow is a young man who came from great wealth, but who’s wealth has now dwindled away. Coriolanus is left desperately holding on to every opportunity to bring honor and wealth back to the Snow family name.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Review
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes presents such a fascinating read, especially for those who have read The Hunger Games. The premise is very interesting as we see Coriolanus Snow get the opportunity to be a mentor during the 10th Hunger Games. This is where Snow is introduced to Lucy Gray who is the tribute he is assigned to. Things get complicated when Snow starts falling in love with the girl he is responsible for keeping alive, though still has a high likelihood of dying in the games.
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Spoilers Beyond this Point (Some mild spoilers for Hunger Games as well)
The fascinating thing about this book is that the main character is the villain of the later series. So, no matter how much sympathy or relatability is given to Snow, the reader (who’ve read Hunger Games) knows where this ends up. This does play really well into his relationship with Lucy Gray and even gives hints to how that relationship skews his later views on Katniss.
The books is written and paced very similarly to the other Hunger Games stories. It does a very good job at keeping the reader engaged, which is a pretty interesting task for this book. Though the reader may know the ultimate outcome of Snow, there are so many fun nods and influences that can be seen to show how Snow get to where he eventually ends up.
Overall, for big fans of The Hunger Games series, this is a very interesting read. To the casual reader, or those who haven’t read The Hunger Games, it may come off as a bit incomplete in scope and tone. The ending especially may be very off-putting to newcomers.
Continue reading for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Discussion Questions
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Favorite The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Quotes
How are you going to dream if you don’t go to sleep?
Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.
Well, as they said, it’s not over until the mockingjay sings.
And try not to look down on people who had to choose between death and disgrace.
You’ve no right to starve people, to punish them for no reason. No right to take away their life and freedom. Those are things everyone is born with, and they’re not yours for the taking.
What are lies but attempts to conceal some sort of weakness?
There is a point to everything or nothing at all, depending on your worldview.
Courage in battle was often necessary because of someone else’s poor planning.
-The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Quotes
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Book Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Redemption, Rebellion, Dystopia, Responsibility with power
- Have you read/watched The Hunger Games? If so, how did that affect your reading of this book?
- Which character did you relate to most and why?
- What similarities/influences do you see between Lucy Gray and Katniss Everdeen? How are these qualities different from Snow?
- How is Snow different from the beginning of the book to the end?
- What do you think ultimately happens to Lucy Gray?
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