Summary-

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy and follows the life of Coriolanus Snow, who would become Panem's tyrannical president in the future. Set 64 years prior to the events of the first series, the novel sees a young Snow, grappling with his family's downfall in post-war Capitol. As a student at the Capitol's Academy, he is selected to be the mentor for a female tribute from District 12 in the 10th Hunger Games. While Snow navigates the cutthroat competition, he develops a complex relationship with his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, who enchants the audience through her performances. In Snow's viewpoint, the novel describes his downward spiral morally, as he gets more and more brutal in his pursuit of power. The novel illustrates the genesis of his ruthless nature and his subsequent rise to dictatorship. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes explores the history of Panem in the early years, the Hunger Games, and the shaping of Snow's ideology, providing readers with an in-depth examination of the origins of a character who would go on to define the destiny of a nation.