Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Pandemic: "Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins

 Pandemic: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, 2020, Hoopla audiobook download.

Nuts. I listened to this back in May and apparently missed typiing any notes.

Well... it's a Hunger Games novel. A prequel with the teen version of President Snow. It's a nice standalone novel and basically a focus on life after wartime. The Capital is pretty new and there are food shortages and rubble. I'd compare it to post-war Berlin except the dirty, rotten, filthy, stinking, no-good nazis won.

Other thoughts: Teen protagonist wants regular teen things like acceptance, love, and respect of peers. He also wants to reclaim the family name and wealth. 

Plot: former rich kid Snow is enrolled in an elite school for the wealthy and powerful. He does well in school. He and fellow classmates are chosen as patrons of the provincial teens who are brought in to compete in the Hunger Games. The Games are held in a abandoned stadium. 

Snow gets hotsy-totsy for the girl he is assigned. The girl wins. Snow gets in big trouble and has to join the army (or whatever they call it). Snow is sent to girl's district and has teenage fancies of lovey and dovey and a life together. Reality intrudes as cruelty and power are the way the world runs.

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