BOOK VS FILM! The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by Grace H.

The Teen Book Guild is proud and excited to display our new blog series: Book VS Film! We will discuss both the book and film adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, and we'll deliver a verdict at the end!

Disclaimer: minor spoilers ahead.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the prequel to the well-known Hunger Games series. This new addition follows Coriolanus Snow, the villain of the original trilogy, as a teenage boy living in the Capitol. Coriolanus's prestigious family has fallen into debt and ruin after the death of his father, and Coryo must win back his honor. How so? By becoming one of the first ever mentors of the 10th Annual Hunger Games, where 24 teenagers fight to the death. Which is done better, the film or the book?

The Book

Contrary to some, I immensely enjoyed this prequel. I thought it was fascinating to be able to see the origins of many of the components of the Hunger Games through the eyes of a future villain. My favorite parts were the hidden easter eggs that hinted towards plot points from the original trilogy. In comparison to the movie version, there were a couple things that the book did better. First of all, in the novel, we get a lot of scenes with Ma Plinth and her cooking for Coriolanus, which were completely absent in the movie. We also get more of a backstory surrounding Lucy Gray and the rest of the Covey. However, all in all, the movie adaptation matched the book very well.

The Film

The movie adaptation hit theaters in mid-November of this year and has been trending ever since. Snow, in particular, has become increasingly popular on TikTok. The film has been praised for following the book closely, and with a few minor exceptions, I agree. For fans of the book (like myself), this made for a great viewing experience.

The casting of the movie was incredible; Tom Blythe and Rachel Zegler did a fantastic job in their roles, and both really made their characters come to life. Personally, I thought it was SO COOL to see Snow as a teenager. Another benefit of the movie was getting a lot more action scenes of Lucy Gray in the arena. The book mainly stays with Coriolanus, but in the movie, we get scenes inside the arena, more from the perspective of Lucy Gray. One drawback of the movie is the absence of Clemensia's fate after being bitten by Dr. Gaul's snakes. After the incident, she disappears for the rest of the movie. However, more scenes with Tigris make up for it, especially in the epilogue.

The Verdict

After careful deliberation, I have decided that the movie version of the story has won.

Simply being able to see the action on screen with the amazing actors portraying the characters beats reading on paper. However, I would still highly recommend reading the book, as the plot points between the film and novel are very similar.

What do you think? Does the book or film win?