Series Review: Hunger Games Extended Universe

Anyone close to my age read the Hunger Games trilogy when it came out in the early 20-teens. I personally picked up the original novel in the clearance section of Walmart my freshman year of college, but all three books were available by then. It was a huge phenomenon, especially when the movies came out. I even saw the original in theaters at midnight. When Suzanne Collins released two more Hunger Games books, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping, I worried. Were these money grabs? Was she trying to make people like President Snow by making him a main character? Would this undermine the Hunger Games like other once-beloved series were undermined years later? I decided to give them a try.

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows President Snow in his youth, when he was a mentor in the tenth Hunger Games. It discusses what the war was like, how the games began and evolved, and life in the Capitol. Snow became entangled with his mentee from District 12, Lucy Gray, and the book follows the games themselves and the aftermath. 
Sunrise on the Reaping follows Haymitch in the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell, where twice as many kids were in the games. It fleshed out Haymitch as a character and showed how he got involved with the people who, in the 75th Hunger Games, helped Katniss and Peeta rebel from within the arena.

Both books rewarded Hunger Games fans with call-backs to the original series that felt organic and not like fan service. The world building fleshed out and added to the world we already knew in a way that felt logical in its progression. While in Sunrise especially you know who wins the games, Collins managed to find ways to surprise me and maintain tension throughout the book anyway. This is similar to the Hunger Games trilogy, where you knew the POV character will win, but kept turning pages to see how.

On the downside, I didn't like being in Snow's POV so Ballad was harder for me to invest in. I know not every protagonist needs to be likable, but knowing who he became later made it hard to empathize with him. 

These books are for you if you enjoyed the original Hunger Games trilogy (although that's not required to understand the plots), if you are in the mood for rebelling against dystopian governments, or if you prefer your romance sub-plots with a bit of tragedy. These books are not for you if you didn't enjoy Collins's writing style in the original trilogy, if you are not in the headspace to read about tyrannical governments, or if you are looking for a happy ending or light tone.


Have you read all of the Hunger Games books? Are you looking forward to the Sunrise on the Reaping movie? Let's discuss in the comments!