family – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Today Marshmallow reviews the very first prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, originally published in 2020.

[Marshmallow also reviewed The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Hunger Games: The Illustrated Edition, and Sunrise on the Reaping.]

Marshmallow reviews The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. — Marshmallow reviews *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* by Suzanne Collins.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked the previous Hunger Games books or are interested in beginning the series, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Coriolanus Snow is better known as President Snow of Panem to most, but in this book he is little more than a student at the Academy. Though he comes from one of the most prestigious families in the Capitol, he struggles to make ends meet after the recent war.

During those Dark Days, the thirteen districts surrounding the Capitol rebelled against it—cutting off its resources to starve it into submission—and citizens of the Capitol experienced hardships that scarred all and killed many; Even though Coriolanus and his cousin Tigris survived the Dark Days (barely), they both witnessed horrific things that haunt them throughout the book.

At the beginning of the book, Coriolanus and Tigris are living with their Grandma’am in their once-luxurious apartment. Coriolanus’s parents died during the Dark Days, and their family’s lucrative munitions manufacturing business located in District 13 was destroyed when that district was obliterated by the Capitol as punishment. Even after the war ended (with a Capitol victory), the Snow family suffered. Without parents and their income, Tigris and Coriolanus are left to uphold the Snow reputation—even though they are no longer the rich family they were. Grandma’am trains Coriolanus and Tigris to maintain their dignity and they keep their economic struggles a secret, so the Snow family still seems powerful.

At his school, Coriolanus excels and hopes to be assigned as mentor to the tribute who will win the Hunger Games. One of the professors, a Professor Gaul, wants to make the Games into a spectacle and has a student paired with each tribute in an effort to help them survive or, at least, entertain Panem. Professor Gaul wants all of Panem to remember the war in this way, and she is hoping to make more people watch the Games (because many, of course, don’t love the idea of little kids killing each other).

At this time there have only been nine Hunger Games so far because the war was so recent. The Games have yet to become the extravagant extravaganzas seen in Sunrise on the Reaping or the trilogy with Katniss starting with The Hunger Games. The Capitol simply places the twenty-four children in an arena with a pile of weapons and watches them kill one another until only one remains.

While the Snow name is respected, Coriolanus does not have parents to bribe the school (while the other students do) and is assigned the worst possible tribute: the girl from District 12. This seems like an automatic loss because District 12 is full of weak, starving people, and the girls are presumed to be even weaker than the boys. However, when the Reaping occurs, Coriolanus realizes that this curse might have been a blessing in disguise; the girl, Lucy Gray Baird, becomes the most memorable tribute after some surprising events. While not physically threatening, Lucy Gray is charming and popular, both things Coriolanus can use to get her to victory. Her singing fascinates all of Panem and Coriolanus, who begins to fall for her. Luckily for him, the feeling is reciprocated. Unluckily for him and her, she is soon to be sent into the arena. And Professor Gaul is determined to make this year’s Games one that Panem will never forget.

Marshmallow is reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. — Marshmallow is reading *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* by Suzanne Collins.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that The Hunger Games trilogy and specifically this book should be made required reading for high school students. This book continues Collins’ trend of examining human instinct, morality, violence, and more.

I think The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes can be a stand-alone if necessary or could be a great way to start reading the Hunger Games books. I wonder what it would have been like to read this book first and go through the series chronologically. Having read the other books first, I think both ways work well. However, this book stands out in its analysis of humanity because Coriolanus’s Academy setting facilitates discussions on these topics. For example, Professor Gaul has him and his classmates write essays about what they love about war. Such analyses make this a very deep and profound piece of work, something I believe could rival the works of Orwell and Huxley.

I think Collins also did an amazing job of writing this book from the perspective of a control-obsessed, self-promoting, yet initially well-intentioned young man. I knew that Snow was going to turn evil (because I knew his role in the other books), but watching the transformation was fascinatingly disturbing. He was manipulative and a bit narcissistic from the start, but watching the worst parts of him take over—especially at the end—was very strange.

The whole book is written in third person, but I read it in a flow state in which it felt in first person … until around halfway through when I felt a sense of disconnection from the character because I realized that something about him was no longer quite right. I am not sure how to explain this.

I would strongly suggest reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I will say that it might be too dark for younger bunnies though, so I wouldn’t read it until around twelve years old—appropriately, the age when children are entered into the Reaping. I was a bit confused on the ending, but the epilogue tied everything up with a link foreshadowing what is to come in Snow’s future.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* by Suzanne Collins 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Marshmallow has already read and reviewed the three main books of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay. Then last October she reviewed The Hunger Games: The Illustrated Edition, a visually striking adaptation of the first book. Today she reviews Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel to the trilogy, published in March 2025.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked the Hunger Games books or are interested in reading them, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Haymitch Abernathy has one of the worst birthdays that one could get in Panem; he was born on Reaping Day—the day when the tributes from each district are selected and sent off to their deaths in the Arena. On his sixteenth birthday, he mentally prepares for the worst but refuses to show his fear on the outside. His name is in the drawing twenty times because he has had to enter it in extra to get food for his mother and brother. This is especially inopportune because twice as many tributes are being chosen because it is the Second Quarter Quell: the fiftieth Hunger Games that marks the remembrance of the Dark Days and the failed Rebellion. With these horrific events, the Capitol reminds its twelve districts that their past uprising will continually be remembered and they will be continually punished by the loss of their children on livestream.

Luckily, neither Haymitch nor his brother are pulled from the bowl of names. Haymitch’s girl Lenore Dove is also not selected. The odds seem to have favored them, until the second male tribute Woodbine Chance runs away and is killed by the Capitol’s Peacekeepers. Drusilla—the selfish, careless woman who draws the names—scrambles to find a replacement for him and chooses Haymitch when he tries to protect Lenore from the Peacekeepers during a struggle for Woodbine’s body (she was trying to help his mother have a few last moments with her son before they took his body away). All of a sudden, Haymitch is made a tribute even though he was not actually selected the right way. It does not matter though because the broadcasters rearrange the production so that Woodbine’s death is erased and it seems that he was never selected at all. In his place, Haymitch has to step up to the stage and prepare to leave to the Capitol to compete.

Haymitch knows that the Games are essentially a death sentence and, as a competitor from District 12 (a coal-mining district described as “nothing but coal dust and miners soaked in rotgut liquor”), he realizes the odds are stacked against them. (Other districts like 1, 2, and 4 prepare their children and often have less poverty and starvation, meaning their tributes are stronger and more likely to win; these tributes are called Careers.) However, he promises to his brother he will try and he also self-assigns himself as the protector of Louella McCoy, a little girl he thinks of as a sister who is also sent as a tribute for District 12.

The other two District 12 tributes are Wyatt, whose father orchestrates the gambling for the Hunger Games in District 12, and Maysilee, who comes from a richer family and seems very snobbish. Wyatt’s family’s disregard for the violence in the Games and Maysilee’s better-than-thou behavior makes Haymitch disgusted. But eventually, the four grow closer and start to ally with tributes from other districts that, like them, seem to be equally disadvantaged in comparison to the Careers. Their alliance is called the Newcomers and, for the first time, Haymitch (blissfully and perhaps willingly forgetting that they might eventually have to kill one another) begins to feel hopeful. But he is not an ordinary tribute because he is not just there to survive, he is there to fight the Capitol and everything they have done. Tragically, the Games themselves serve as foreshadowing that no resistance comes without punishing loss.

Marshmallow is reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. — Marshmallow is reading *Sunrise on the Reaping* by Suzanne Collins.

Marshmallow’s Review: Sunrise on the Reaping is a very good book. It is set around twenty four years before the Hunger Games that Katniss Everdeen first competes in. I read the original Hunger Games series a while ago, but I recalled the name Haymitch as he was the alcoholic mentor of the District 12 tributes. This made me guess that the story in Sunrise on the Reaping was unlikely to end well, and unfortunately I was proven correct. However, the book is very well written and holds up to Collins’ previous standards of success. It is touching and disturbingly realistic, painting a world that I hope never comes to pass.

Sunrise on the Reaping returns the reader to Panem and reveals links to the original series that I only just caught. The subtlety in the connections is both annoying and simultaneously awe-inspiring. I think that Sunrise on the Reaping could be read either before or after reading the original Hunger Games trilogy. It provides good context for the character of Haymitch and sets up the world shown later on. So if there are any bunnies out there who have not yet read the original three books, they could really begin with this one; it would work well.

I did find that Sunrise on the Reaping greatly deepened my view of Haymitch and I think this is a piece of heart-rending art for showing the exact process in which he was broken as a person and in such a perfectly-executed manner (both his torture and the way Collins describes the plot). His transformation is very thought-provoking and shows how he became the lonely drunk we are introduced to alongside Katniss in The Hunger Games.

This book, like Collins’ others, is violent and is not appropriate for younger bunnies (say eleven and younger). Collins’ use of verse and song is remarkable and I thought that set this book apart from most other violent books because it highlighted the depth and meaning of the violence, giving the reader time to pause and reflect on the implications of such pain. I liked how Collins used Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and how stanzas were woven throughout the book showing how Haymitch’s story aligned with the poem in more ways than one.

Overall, this was a very well written book. I am now looking forward to reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, another prequel to the series that was published about five years ago and retells the backstory of Coriolanus Snow, who was the president of Panem in the original trilogy. I hope that it, like this book, will be a meaningful addition to the Hunger Games series.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Sunrise on the Reaping* by Suzanne Collins 100%.

Marshmallow reviews The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Today Marshmallow reviews a classic novel originally published in 1899: Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like reading books that make you think and take you back in time, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Edna Pontellier lives in New Orleans, Louisiana during the late nineteenth century. As she is originally from Kentucky, Edna has felt a little out of place ever since she married Mr. Pontellier (who was born into the Creole culture), moving to Louisiana to live with him. Edna spends her days as a “mother-woman” now, attending to the needs of her husband and two sons and running the domestic details of the Pontellier household; however, this is not enough to satisfy Edna.

The Pontelliers are fortunately very wealthy and the book introduces us to them during their trip to Grand Isle (near the Gulf of Mexico) during the summer. At Grand Isle, Edna realizes that she is truly unhappy when Mr. Pontellier berates her for neglecting their children (despite the fact that he was out the whole night at the pub). She breaks down in tears, but finds comfort in spending time with her friend Robert—who is the son of the woman who runs the resort the Pontelliers stay at. While Mr. Pontellier is regarded as the best husband Edna and her friends know, he is not particularly attentive. Still, he sends back sumptuous gifts while he is away, and he has never abused or assaulted Edna.

To me, it seems that Mr. Pontellier is the best husband one could hope for from the men of that time period; he is a very by-the-book gentleman, treating his wife in the most caring manner he knows how (though it is mostly materialistic and he does not offer much in the way of emotional support or attention). I do not blame Edna for feeling discontent though.

During their time at Grand Isle, Robert and Edna become closer and closer—to the point that Adéle Ratignolle (a very close friend of Edna’s) warns him to stay away from Edna lest they start to believe they could become more than friends. But it is already too late because Edna’s heart has already made its way to Robert. Adéle, who is the paragon of what an ideal woman would be, provides a stark contrast to Edna. Edna is not a bad wife, but she is far from matching Adéle’s doting adoration and care for Mr. Ratignolle and their children. Along with her budding love for Robert, Edna starts to feel as though maybe she is not cut out to fit this mother-woman role.

When the Pontelliers return to New Orleans, Edna starts to take up more room, rejecting the standards she tried so hard to fit herself in. When Mr. Pontellier goes on a business trip and the children go to stay with his mother, Edna decides to move to a small cottage they own, called the pigeon house. There, her agency and independence are kindled and eventually ignite an affair with a man named Alcée Arobin (there are no inappropriate scenes; Chopin only describes an occasional kiss).

One might ask why Alcée comes into the picture when Edna loves Robert. The unfortunate answer would be that Robert ran off to Mexico in pursuit of some business opportunity, though this was a thinly veiled attempt to distance himself from Edna and his feelings of attraction to her. Alcée (a lady’s man with a distinct pattern of chasing married women) provides the physical satisfaction that Edna was missing. But Edna does not feel any sense of love or emotional connection to him. Robert is the one she loved. When he returns, Edna’s life will be forever changed.

Marshmallow is reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. — Marshmallow is reading *The Awakening* by Kate Chopin.

Marshmallow’s Review: This was a fascinating book. I really enjoyed reading about what life was like back then, and I felt as though Chopin had actually transported me there to witness it. I will say that I found Edna’s treatment of some of the servants quite infuriating (she is not abusive, but definitely demeaning). Regardless, this book was worth the time I put into trying to understand it. Initially, much like my endeavors with A Tale of Two Cities, reading the first couple of chapters was grueling. But after I got accustomed to the writing style of the time period, it was relatively easy to read.

I read The Awakening in my English class, so I did do a deeper analysis of this book than I might have done otherwise. I noticed that the titular “Awakening” could represent one of many things (her rebellion, her sexual relationships, her artistic pursuits, etc.) or perhaps all of them together. There is also the consistent image of the sea. This motif serves to represent independence, death, freedom, life, rebirth, rebellion, and more. Really, anything can represent anything—it is all up to the reader what they get out of the book. I found this book to be a source of gratitude for me. I am really glad that Edna’s world of repression and dissatisfaction has been partially torn down over the years since this book’s publication. The idea of a mother-woman that so defined and constrained her life has loosened its grip on women today.

The ending came as a bit of a shock to me. I was hoping for the resolution of the story to go one way and it went off a cliff in the other direction (metaphorically, I mean, due to the surprising nature of the end). I will not say much more. But I think the ending Chopin chose sends the most meaningful message and it is quite open to interpretation.

I wonder if it is possible that the whole story is a dream and that Edna imagines her whole affair with Alcée and the drama with Robert. She does have one part of the book where she starts imagining something and perhaps she never stopped? This is a bit of a stretch, but I find such mental investigations intriguing.

I would also mention that this is a very psychologically interesting book as well. Chopin does an excellent job of showing Edna’s psyche and why she feels the way she does. The reader’s emotions follow the same arc as those of Edna’s. I was saddened to come to the end of the book.

This particular edition of the novel contains many short stories by the author; however, I have not read them yet; so far I have only read The Awakening. That is the only one I can speak about in depth. But I can definitely say that I would highly recommend reading it to all!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 98%.

Marshmallow rates The Awakening by Kate Chopin 98%. — Marshmallow rates *The Awakening* by Kate Chopin 98%.

Caramel reviews The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown

Caramel has read and loved all three Wild Robot books by Peter Brown. He has also appreciated the Wild Robot movie when it came out last year. Today he is talking to Sprinkles about the most recent Wild Robot book, The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot, written and illustrated by Peter Brown and published this past summer (June 2025).

Readers should also check out Caramel’s reviews of The Wild Robot, The Wild Robot Escapes, and The Wild Robot Protects.

Caramel reviews The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot, written and illustrated by Peter Brown. — Caramel reviews *The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot*, written and illustrated by Peter Brown.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are finally talking about the picture book version of The Wild Robot; are you excited?

Caramel: Yep, because it is a very good book, the original and this version.

S: When I first heard about this, I thought it would be a new story, but it seems this is basically the original story, right?

C: Yes it is the same story, but more simplified. So there is a robot named Roz that gets lost in the ocean after a boat loses all of what it is carrying. And the robot finds itself on an island. And then it goes around looking for and making friends. It is really a sweet story!

S: Yes, I remember the book and the movie.

C: I am guessing this one is for younger bunnies. Because the original book was for bunnies who could read a big book. This is a picture book.

S: Yes, that makes sense to me. Younger bunnies could not read the original book really. It was over two hundred pages. This one is a nice standard-sized picture book.

C: And there are very few words on each page in this version. The other one had a lot more words of course.

Caramel is reading The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot, written and illustrated by Peter Brown. — Caramel is reading *The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot*, written and illustrated by Peter Brown.

S: I think the book is illustrated by the author, right?

C: Yeah, from what I can tell.

S: Are they similar to the illustrations in the original? There were some pictures in those too, no?

C: Yeah, the style is very similar to the original book.

S: Maybe the author wanted readers to have the same mental images he has for the characters and the locations and such. The movie was also very pretty, but it was kind of different visually.

C: Yeah, maybe. The movie was beautiful, and I loved it. But the illustrations in the original book and now in this new picture book are all slightly different. And they are also very beautiful. Speaking of the movie, can we add a link to the trailer? You just reminded me of how good the movie was…

S: Sure. Here it is.

C: Thank you! Maybe we will watch it again some day.

S: Maybe; I could like that too. But now let us get back to the book. Do you think that maybe the author thought the picture book was a good idea now that so many younger bunnies have actually seen the movie?

C: Maybe, I don’t know, but it was a fast read for me.

S: Well, you are a very good reader, Caramel.

C: I do read a lot, true. Maybe this book could get some bunnies into the bigger books. After all, there are two more books after the original one!

S: And I know you actually would love it if there were a fourth book…

C: Yes, I really want a fourth book. That would be very very very good.

S: Okay, maybe we publish this post and who knows, maybe it will eventually get to the author’s ears…

C: Yes, dear reader, if you are Peter Brown, the creator of The Wild Robot, then please write a fourth book! I really would love to read more of Roz’s adventures.

S: Okay, maybe we can wrap this up then. You have made your opinions quite clear. So what would you like to tell the rest of our readers then?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot, written and illustrated by Peter Brown, and is hoping that soon there will also be new adventures for Roz and friends. — Caramel loved reading *The Wild Robot on the Island: An Illustrated Picture Book Adaptation of The Wild Robot*, written and illustrated by Peter Brown, and is hoping that soon there will also be new adventures for Roz and friends.