The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Collins) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
As much as this is Coriolanus's origin story, it is an origin story for the Games themselves, an answer to the question… posed by Katniss in Mockingjay…: "Did a group of people sit around and cast their votes on initiating the Hunger Games?"… People who love finding out the back stories in fictional universes—why Sherlock Holmes wears a deerstalker hat… will relish the chance to learn these details.
Sarah Lyall - New York Times


Readers who loved the moral ambiguity, crisp writing and ruthless pacing of the first three books might be less interested in an overworked parable about the value of Enlightenment thinking.… It's the sheer obviousness that drags, the way that we know what the right answer is supposed to be.
NPR


For true fans of The Hunger Games, Collins shines most as she weaves in tantalizing details that lend depth to the gruesome world she created in the original series and Coriolanus’s place in its history.
Time


The prequel is stranger than its predecessors, and funnier, overlong, dangerously goofy.…  The storytelling itself trends desperate at times. Chapters close on violent cliffhangers that edge into parody….  Collins still has a gift for horrorshow scene-setting…. [A] major work with major flaws, but it sure gives you a lot to chew on.
Entainment Weekly


[An] unflinching exploration of power and morality…. A gripping mix of whipsaw plot twists and propulsive writing make this story's complex issues—vulnerability and abuse, personal responsibility, and institutionalized power dynamics—vivid and personal.
Publishers Weekly


Collins humanizes [Coriolanus Snow] as superficially heroic and emotionally relatable… resulting in both a tense, character-driven piece and a cautionary tale.… The twists and heartbreaks captivate despite tragic inevitabilities.
Kirkus Reviews