I bought this book at the Ulysses Bookstore in Hampton. I wandered in there because there seems to be a rubber band drawing me towards any bookshop in my vicinity. I only bought four books and this was one of them. I’ve been wanting to finish The Hunger Games series ever since I picked up the first book. As with all of The Hunger Games series it was a love/hate relationship.
This book is the prequel to the series and shows us what President Coriolanus Snow does when he is 18. I’d like to say that the callousness we see him portray is a direct result of how people treat him, and how he copes with the outcome of the war. But that would be inaccurate. Yes, some of these things do affect him and his actions, but there’s a lot more to it.
It seems that the need to push oneself forward in life might be genetic. We find out who actually had the idea for The Hunger Games in the first place, and who sent the idea in. This engenders a lot of negative feelings toward Snow which does not bode well for his behaviour. He goes for some rather underhand behaviour which then leads to a change in the rules in future Hunger Games.
The war the precedes the institution of the Hunger Games is taking a toll on the winning section. Panem is short on food, and Snow’s family doesn’t want to show that they’re low on money and can’t buy much food. And there’s his cousin who won’t take on a job that pays more, instead preferring a job that she enjoys. That’s what it looks like to me.
Anyway, there’s a lot of interesting depiction of what it must be like after a war, even for the winning side. People lack food, they lack money to buy food, and they want more prestige. Most people won’t care about the prestige as food is important, but it seems Snow and his family really care about prestige. This all comes through very clearly.
I love the writing. The people aspects are very clear to me, as are how things are progressing in society, or not progressing. It is clear that if you’ve got money then you can buy your way into anything, even if someone in your family has really done the wrong thing. Totally mirroring some societies.
I hate the society Collins has created. I think I’m meant to hate this society. I hate the people in Panem for creating the Hunger Games and then making it a spectacle for people’s entertainment. I feel I’m falling directly in Collins’ trap here, and I’m not at all penitent. I have no notes to share with you as I read this book in double quick time and didn’t write anything down.
There is no doubt in my mind the Suzanne Collins is a really good writer. She seems to have captured the universe well, and I understand why her books have been made into movies. I absolutely will be looking for her next book in this universe, Sunrise on the Reaping, which is due out on 4th August 2026. Not that long to wait, but I won’t be buying and reading it immediately.