Author: Suzanne Collins
Normally, I don’t like prequels all that much. I mean, you know what is going happen, right? Where’s the fun in that? However, if the writer is good and the “world” is interesting – I am open to it. This is the case with Suzanne Collins’ return to Panem 10 years after the Hunger Games trilogy. This time, it is told not by a hungry girl (in the book, clearly not the movie. Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress with a great figure but she was NOT living only on the protein she hunted) but instead through the eyes (and voice if you do the audio book) of the young, impoverished but ambitious, male student, Coriolanus Snow. Yes – he who grows up to be President Snow. It is a great villain origin story that has you rooting for the fallen Snow (see what I did there) as he tries to earn a University Scholarship by mentoring a clever girl from the Districts who has been “reaped” for the Hunger Games. The evolution of how Snow and the Hunger Games become what we know them to be is an interesting story of calculated moves. Sure, there is romance, but that takes a backseat to the bigger story. It is more like watching an interesting game of strategy where “Snow lands on top!”. Suzanne Collins does it again. She does a brilliant job of crafting an interesting story. One warning: with all that is going on the world right now, it may be a bit “trigger-y” but for a prequel, it kept me interested in the story of a “bad guy” to the very end.
Council Rules: Not a beach read but definitely a summer read! Binge read it one weekend, but avoid the news when you do.
