Joseph Kant

For those who only want to read for plot, to find out how—according to Collins—the world of The Hunger Games trilogy came to be, then this book will probably be satisfying. The plot is exciting and well-crafted, and the book provides solid development to the canon. But for those who liked the original trilogy for its intelligent commentary on the voyeurism of modern entertainment and on questions about the construction of identity and human nature, this book will likely be more disappointing. The original trilogy was effective because it left many of the philosophical questions in the shadows, allowing them to remain ambiguous and open to interpretation even as the events of the plot directly addressed them. In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, however, Collins drags these themes to the foreground and blasts them with a spotlight, erasing all depth and subtlety in favor of stark, blindingly obvious contrasts. The moral ambiguity of the original series is reduced to a middle-school level Hobbes vs. Locke debate on human nature and its implications for government, framed in such a way that there is no doubt about the correct answer (Locke). In short, the novel focuses on a hackneyed theme and reaches a predictable conclusion that anyone aware of the most basic ideas of Enlightenment philosophy will have already considered. It's not entirely Colllins' fault—however ambiguous the supposedly republican forces were in the original trilogy, it's awfully hard to defend the Capitol's perspective—but nevertheless, I had trouble enjoying the book because it felt like it oversimplified issues that were so much more satisfyingly complex in the original trilogy. Then again, this might all be my fault; perhaps these novels are best read for their undeniably brilliant plots rather than for their consideration of significant themes.