Book Review by Megan Puckett:

In full truth, I have experienced both the movie and the book but I read the book first so my comparison lies in favor of the book. However, I won’t give any of my bias so you can draw your conclusion.

When I started the book, I went in knowing that it was a prequel to The Hunger Games and had a movie adaptation coming out. I had watched the movies when they came out and was excited for the opportunity to see something similar on the big screen again. But I decided this time, as I am much older, I wanted to read the book first.

The book starts with our main character Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes known as President Snow in The Hunger Games trilogy, preparing for the reaping. He worries about the shirt his cousin, Tigris Snow, had crafted for him. We learn here of the family’s fall from grace and Coriolanus’ drive to win the Hunger Games.

Coriolanus arrives at the Academy and we get an internal monologue explaining his mentorship in the Hunger Games and the importance of winning the prize. Soon after he finds out who his tribute is a puny girl with lots of charm from District 12, Lucy Grey Baird. She first appears in a beautiful rainbow ruffled dress causing mischief and singing after a slap to the face.

He soon becomes fascinated with Lucy Grey and goes down to meet her along with the other tributes. They slowly become a pair and Snow soon becomes protective of Lucy Grey.

The book does an amazing job of showing Snow’s deepest thoughts and feelings. We see how he truly feels about Lucy Grey, which verges more on possession than love. He always refers to Lucy Grey as “His.” While this is an unsettling realization to make about the charming young Snow, we still see him commit a few selfless acts to save Lucy Grey and his young friend, Seajus. He goes into the arena and saves Seajus while fighting the tributes who want revenge on the capital for the way they have been treated and are forced to kill each other. He later cheats the games to save Lucy Grey which lands him in District 12 when his digressions are found.

This is also when the rules of the game start to change to the rules we are familiar with seeing in The Hunger Games trilogy. Such as sending your tributes food and medical supplies from capitol citizens betting on the tributes and making donations. This also shows us the original game arena which is damaged from “rebel” bombing during the mentor, tribute walkthrough.
After the games when Lucy Grey is named the winning victor, Snow’s Sneaky way of saving Lucy Grey is discovered and he is punished by being forced to join the Peacekeepers for 20 years. He begs for District 12 to once again be reunited with Lucy Grey and while on the train to District 12 discovers his friend Sejanus was also pushed into the Peacekeepers.

In District 12, Sejanus gets mixed up with a rebel group who has plans to steal some Peacekeeper guns and leave. Coriolanus and Lucy Gray discover the plan and argue over Sejanus’ involvement. Upon discovering Mayfair eavesdropping on Billy Taupe, Lucy Gray’s ex-boyfriend, Spruce and Coriolanus kill them after Mayfair threatens to expose them for treason. Coriolanus tries to talk him out of it but in the end, when Sejanus refuses to listen, Coriolanus records Sejanus’s confession of his plans on a trapped Jabberjay and sends it back to Dr.Gaul. Just a few days later Sejanus is hung for treason.

After this Snow agrees to run away with Lucy Grey from fear of the weapons used to kill Mayfair and Billy Taupe being found and how he’d follow Sejanus to the hanging tree. While leaving District 12 they talk about the men Coriolanus had killed and when he says three, Lucy Grey questions him as she only knows of two. Not wanting her to know of his involvement in Sejanus’ death he kills but Lucy Grey realizes his lie. When they reach the cabin and Coriolanus discovers the weapons used in the deaths he realizes he is free and no longer in danger as he destroys the evidence.

He then goes to find Lucy Grey and as he follows the sound of her singing finds the scarf he gave her only to be bitten by a snake and start hallucinating. He shoots at what he believes to be Lucy Gray but before Coriolanus can follow the sound of her voice, mocking jays in the tree echo Lucy Gray’s melody, covering up the sound of her footsteps as she escapes from Coriolanus.

He then returns to base after covering the tracks and all traces of Lucy Grey Baird. Coriolanus reports for his training but is brought to the Capitol to meet with Dr. Gaul. She orders all 10th Hunger Games recordings destroyed, considering them an embarrassment. Coriolanus receives a spot at the University, and Sejanus’ parents adopt him as their heir, unaware that he betrayed their son.

At university, he goes to see Dean Highbottom who confesses to him that he never meant to create the games. It was only supposed to be a school assignment, a joke. He blames Snow’s father for the creation of the Hunger Games. Coriolanus sneaks poison into highbottoms drugs. And in the end, Snow lands on top.

Overall I loved this book, it always kept me intrigued. I love how we get the background on what made Snow who he was and why he committed the cats he did. But, it will never excuse his actions and cruelty. As for my viewpoint on Lucy Grey, I think she was a young girl who was full of vibrant life and slightly askew morals. But when she had to save her life she was as tough as could be. I believe the games turned her into something she was not. She deserved to find a happy life away from all the Districts and The Hunger Games.

Now for the movie, you can continue to read the talented Miss Emily Tester’s “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Movie Review.”

Movie Review by Emily Tester:

This movie was pleasant. I’m a sucker for Dystopian movies and silly little Rom-coms. Meaning I like these types of movies, but I like them to be separate. I would have liked this movie a lot more if the romance was toned way down and the dystopian/adventure aspect was toned way up.

Going into the film I didn’t know what to expect. The only information I was aware of was that the movie is based around young President Snow (a psychopath with really blond hair) and a young woman named Lucy Gray (who allegedly works in coal mining but wears makeup).

Since you already know the basic story due to the lovely writer, Megan Puckett, I will solely be giving you my review of the movie.

At the beginning of the movie, I was not a fan of Snow. I didn’t think I was going to like the story because of his character in the Hunger Games Trilogy, considering he liked to kill little kids for the fun of it. However, as I learned his story and what he had been through throughout the movie, I concluded that he turned out this way because of the influences around him, making him more tolerable throughout the movie. Of course, at some point, he started to make his own decisions, and that is what makes his character a terrible person.

Some aspects I liked the most about this movie are the facts that Tigris Snow – Cornilouis Snow’s cousin – was included, the difference between the games in the early years and the years in The Hunger Games, and lastly how the story showed how Snow became who he is. These are about the only solidly good things in the movie.

Let me start by saying that Tigris Snow deserves her OWN movie. She did everything to keep their home together, to give Snow the best future she could, etc. But in the end, Snow disregarded her and treated her like she was nothing but gum on the bottom of his shoe. I liked that the movie shows her as her younger self and helps picture what she had gone through to make her the way she was in the Hunger Games.

Another aspect of this movie that I enjoyed was the story behind the 10th annual Hunger Games and how that changed the Hunger Games from that point on. In the trilogy, we know that the games are controlled by people in the Capital. We also know that the Game Master oversees these choices. The reason these things are the way they are in the Trilogy is because of the 10th Hunger Games. I enjoyed this part so much because it gives more insight into why the Games are the way they are.

The movie also gives the watchers an idea of how Snow became the way he was in the trilogy. It shows us that his father was an immoral man who wanted power, how the adults around him wanted to be like his father, and how no one except Tigris Snow helped him realize he didn’t have to be like him. Not even the supposedly great Lucy Gray.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like Lucy Gray. I don’t think her character is bad. But I do believe that instead of running away when Snow admitted to killing more than two people she should have stayed with him to help make him a better person.

Another reason I didn’t enjoy the movie as much as I could have is because it was focused way more on the romance aspect rather than the dystopian/adventure characteristic. For more than half the movie it was focused on Cornilouis Snow and Lucy Gray’s relationship. Because of this, we didn’t get as much adventure or as much backstory to everything that happened. Important parts of the story such as the reasons why the Hunger Games started or how Snow came to power were very rushed.

Overall, I don’t suppose the movie was bad. I enjoyed watching it pretty well. Generally speaking, I think quite a bit of the movie could have been changed to make it drastically more interesting. I prefer the Hunger Games trilogy because it focuses more on the parts that aren’t romantic.