The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Author: Suzanne Collins 

One-sentence summary: A lonely, traumatized child learns craft and cruelty through his experiences of war and the aftermath that shape his views of humanity well into his adulthood, influencing his leadership. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8 

Our favorite thing about it: Another great story from Collins that humanizes Snow just a bit, which is interesting. 

Our least favorite thing about it: The ending felt a bit rushed and Lucy Grey felt like an incomplete character. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Poverty, Humanity, Power & Control, Pride, Loyalty & Betrayal 

Our favorite quote: “What sort of agreement is necessary if we're to live in peace? What sort of social contract is required for survival?” 

Notes: This was a really fun prequel to one of our very favorite series. It offered a look into Snow’s life and some of his motivations and why he views the world the way he does later in life. We didn’t really like humanizing him knowing what we know about him from the later books. The whole concept of power and control, of how to keep the peace, of what humanity is like at it’s core – were all the main themes running throughout the novel. All of these made for very good discussion. We liked the character of Lucy Grey and what she showed Snow. It opened a door for him to see how others live and it expanded his world. Unfortunately, his pride and betrayal would ruin whatever he learned from her. We felt their encounter at the very end of the book was rushed and odd. We get the point, but it just didn’t feel fleshed out. We also wanted more from Lucy Grey. She was a side character, we realize that. But there was obviously more to her than she was showing Snow. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: We were at the Lake House for this meeting, so there are lots of memories! We took Christina out to Eight 11 (as a surprise) for dinner on the way out of town and had lots of shared appetizers and cocktails on the patio with live music. We rented a boat and spent the afternoon on the lake! We swam over by Hell’s Gate for almost 2 hours and really enjoyed ourselves. We played Phase 10, lounged on the patio, hardly dipped our toes in the freezing pool water, but lounged by the pool. We went to Tim Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse for lunch on Sunday on the way back into town and ate on the patio there. 

What We Ate: Our usual menu (muffins, mimosas, tacos, pizza) in addition to Eight 11 and Woodshed Smokehouse. In other words…lots of GOOD food!