The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

A Hunger Games Novel

By: Suzanne Collins

Narrated by: Santino Fontana

Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 18-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 out charm, 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.

©2020 Suzanne Collins (P)2020 Scholastic Inc.

Nothing wrong with the narration

I would rate the narrator 6 out of 10. The narration also gets way better once there is more action. Not sure what so many reviewers are complaining about. Maybe teen fiction is supposed to sound more exciting?

A Brief History of the Hunger Games

🎙️ Santino Fontana’s performance was excellent!

Snow lands on top. This is the origin story we all needed…
1) Snow is instrumental in the development and evolution of the Hunger Games as we know them.
2) Snow's absolute resolve to a path of power and his lack of empathy are compelling. The bit where he considers Sejanus's ma's cookies. (jaw on floor)

I found the evolution of the games to be fascinating. The way the tributes used to be treated vs the spectacle and opulence we see in the original trilogy. The introduction of sponsors and how the designation of mentors to the tributes evolved. We are introduced to one of the most horrifically cruel game makers in the history of the games.

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"There is a point to everything or nothing at all, depending on your worldview."
-Dr. Volumnia Gaul

“What happened in the arena? That's humanity undressed. The tributes. And you, too. How quickly civilization disappears. All your fine manners, education, family background, everything you pride yourself on, stripped away in the blink of an eye, revealing everything you actually are. A boy with a club who beats another boy to death. That's mankind in its natural state.”
-Dr. Volumnia Gaul
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Sejanus is our moral compass and has some of my favorite lines in the book!

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“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. Winning a war doesn't give you that right. Having more weapons doesn't give you that right. Being from the Capitol doesn't give you that right. Nothing does.”
-Sejanus Plinth
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Overall, this was a treat and a very satisfying beginning to the world of Panem.


**TO SUZANNE COLLINS**
Thank you for this rich history in Panem. Please write a series about all of the victors. I would love a book dedicated to Finnick. The way he deals in secrets. What all those secrets must be. What life in the capitol must have been like for him. This line of thought only makes me curious about all of the victors of the Hunger Games.

“The Winner's Circle” ⬅️ potential title? 😃

why is everyone hating on the narrator???

I was nervous to purchase this based on the reviews that the narrator was monotone and uninterested, that he didn't do character voices etc.

All completely false!

I just finished the book and the only thing I think he could have changed would be to actually attempt the singing. Or they should have hired a singing narrator, being that this story is so music heavy.

As far as the cadence, I feel like Fontana really captured a teenage Snow. Nearly mirroring the speech patterns of the actor who plays him in the movie. Of course he's going to sound bored, he's a narcissistic psychopath. The only person he finds interesting is himself.

Loved the look behind the emerald curtain. Loved getting to peek inside Snow's head and explore his twisted whole view origins. A great read for those of us who have been away from this universe for a while.

So excited and I Wanted to love it

Unfortunately why did they not get the same narrator as before? PLEASE spend the money to re-record this book with Tatiana! I’ve listened to the first three hunger games books countless times. If they had been by this narrator I would have listened maybe 2 times.
Which narrator is mispronouncing Snow’s first name? Who knows? However since Tatiana had three books worth of pronunciation, that should be the winner. I’m not even 6 chapters in and this narrator is driving me nuts because Snow’s first name is mentioned at least once every 4 lines. I hate to say it but I’m going to return the audiobook and read it myself.

Good book - narration could be better

This book is wonderful, like all of the hunger games books. The narrator could have been better. There were so many musical phrases it would have been nice to have a narrator who could bring the music to life.

ABSOLUTELY RIVETING!

Wow. I have been a huge fan of the Hunger Games Series for many years. My expectations for this book were not low, but I also didn't expect too much, especially given that Mockingjay was an unbearable mess. However, I must say that this book exceeded any and all expectations I had. I could not stop listening. The last five hours felt slow and like the story was going downhill but Suzanne tied the story together beautifully. Incredible. 10/10

Great book

I really enjoyed the book. You get a good look at Snow and see what he went through and maybe why he is the way he is now.
What I did not enjoy was the narrator. He was very dry and monotone. It took me awhile to finish it because the narrator was not keeping my attention.
But, just like all the other books Suzanne wrote, it was excellent.

Wow

This book explains perfectly how president snow ended up being the trifling man that he was. The ending with Lucy Gray threw me for a loop and I knew the minute that the number three was mentioned it was going to go downhill from there the hunger game movies I watched before I read the book, so read in the book before this movie came out was mine blowing 10 out of 10 definitely recommend

Greed, Power & Self Love Triumph

I liked that I kept forgetting who Coreo really is. Then I was disgusted that I kept falling for it. I really enjoyed how this book and his only love (or rather only love other than his love of himself), tied in various elements of the Trilogy. At first I kept wondering what it would be, exactly what details would play out turning him into the President Snow we all love to hate. I thought it was clever though, just when I would think maybe there was some huge catalyst that turns him to the evil, despicable, President, the author gave us glimpses of the evil he had within all along. Maybe it was the death of his parents or how he was raised but writing this character’s journey as a good guy gone bad, scorned by a jilted lover was not how this played out. I’m glad it was more complicated and how you start to think maybe he was good once. Then his inner thoughts or feelings would subtly, as if by instinct turn to action. He naturally acted on greed, power and selfishness without conscious thought. Yet the things that come naturally to most people like affection, love and kindness was alway a well thought out conscious action on his part. I most certainly could see why Katniss and her defiance in every way, decades later, gave him an added disdain and need to ruin her in every way possible. I enjoyed it. Will likely see the movie when it’s available for streaming.

Now, is this going to be another trilogy? Is there already a next book out or in the works? There are certainly MANY strings left untied and I can see a lot of possibilities for seamlessly weaving this “origin story” with the Trilogy. Is Katniss a L.G. descendant? The song, what L..G used as an excuse tieing to K..E’s name seems too much coincidence. Does she live, go on to find REAL love and happiness without him? Even worse, in a district? Anyway, I’d read another.

Narration note: I found the narration to be just fine. He’s a selfish, greedy, power hungry, narcissistic teenager. Are people expecting a 100+ yro, wise Gandolph the Gray? The only time I was annoyed was when it came to the singing. It should’ve been sung in his voice. The ridiculous staccato like speaking of them was worse than if he had just sang them. After all, he was singing them to us in his mind and literally with the anthem Coreo sang. Even if it was bad, that’d only added more weight to how he dislikes it primarily because it’s something he doesn’t excel at doing. Just my thoughts. Don’t think it ruined the story at all. I have heard much much worse.

Great story, poor recording quality

For such an anticipated book in a well-known, much-loved series, WTF were the producers thinking putting out this sub-par product? The sound quality of the editing is poor, and the performance lackluster. There were multiple singing parts that were only read, and it felt as if they released a demo reading instead of the final edit. The reader was not inspiring and could have ruined a mediocre story. Fortunately, the story is not mediocre.

The story itself is wonderful, and Collins does a great job with character development and story progression. I just wish they would have invested a little more into the audio production of this book. Very disappointing. P