October Book Club Books Review

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

This sequel to the world-famous Hunger Games trilogy follows the journey of a young Coriolanus Snow, future President of Panem. Initially, I had trouble figuring out if the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was a redemption arc or a villain origin story for the future President. Differently from the Hunger Games, where it was easy to root for the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, it wasn't possible to root for Coriolanus Snow because, in the end, he is the ultimate antagonist who stands against everything.

As the story continues, Snow begins to fall in love with his Victor, Lucy Gray, and his thoughts on the high and mighty Capitol slowly drift away, but like a switch of a flip, he is back, supporting the Capitol in everything they stand for. He believed that the districts were animals and that the Hunger Games were necessary for control in the eternal war. 

Coriolanus Snow cannot be redeemed. But he can be understood. He wasn't born a sociopath who slaughters children yearly. He is intelligent, ambitious, and cunning like a snake, but he is also unlikeable, resentful, and entitled. Despite being raised in the Capitol, he has humanity and the ability to love; he sees the darkness of the Games and the horror that follows, and he has the ability to love his family and a girl, willing to risk his life for them, qualities that future Snow has never shown. 

Lucy Gray is the Victor of the 10th annual Hunger Games. She was a performer placed in a hunt and forced to be a predator. However, I was not a huge fan of Lucy Gray's character. She was a bit manipulative and, at times, seemed unrealistic for a teenage girl entering a game to the death. She wasn't a memorable character, either. If she weren't connected to Snow, she would have been just another character that faded into the background. 

I loved how much symbolism and foreshadowing were woven into the story that eoched the storyline of the original trilogy. There were times when the Katniss plant was mentioned or the Hanging Tree, a song that Katniss sings in the third book. Almost everything Suzanne Collins wrote in this book mirrored Katniss and Peeta and their journey. It was much more philosophical than the previous books but also much gorier. The descriptions of the Games and the executions were brutal. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has a very interesting plotline, but I don't think it was executed well. At times, there were too many descriptions, and the scenes felt bland. There was lots of detail that could have been cut back to make the book smaller. 

Despite the parts that I did not like in the book, it wasn't terrible. It filled in many needed gaps about Snow's character and why he hates the districts so much, especially District 12. It was enlightening in several aspects, and at times, you couldn't help but wish that he would abandon the Capitol to live with Lucy Gray and abandon his dreams of being the leader of the Capitol. But he wouldn't because, in the end, Snow lands on top. 

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman named Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix's children's school. Hosie has been listening to Alix's podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. 

Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can't quite resist that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix's life and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappeared. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family's lives under mortal threat. 

This book is truly a psychological thriller! True to the title, I spent most of the book trying to decipher what was real. After only reading the first few pages, you find yourself drawn into a riveting psychological thriller with dark twists, unreliable characters, and schooling revelations. The first half of the book is a bit slow, but the sinister actions throughout the book keep pushing you further. It's not in the second half when things escalate dramatically. Tragic event after tragic event leads the story on an even darker journey than at the start. 

The book switches between the past and recorded podcast interviews to the future, where a true crime podcast has been made documenting the events from Alix meeting Josie to the very end. Lisa Jewell wrote an intricate story in a way that everything came together in the end but still left the reader's mind whirling in what-ifs. 

Overall, None of This is True is the type of story that stick with you for years! It will give you goosebumps every time you remember the characters and the main events. 

Also, don't miss out on the Literary Ladies and Shelf Awareness Book Clubs going to see the new Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in theaters in November! Be sure to be on the lookout for more information. 

Written by Carlie Renee