Can you believe it’s been twelve years since Suzanne Collins gifted us ‘The Hunger Games’ series? Do you feel bloody old, because I certainly do.
The book series, which centred around Katniss Everdeen and her quest to overthrow the tyrannical President Snow / not die in the Hunger Games, went gangbusters – it’s sold over 100 million copies globally, spawned a hugely successful film series starring Jennifer Lawrence, and holds a special place in most of our hearts as a much-loved series from our tweens.
The new Hunger Games book is actually a prequel called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, set 64 years before the Katniss-led books. The new protagonist is 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow – yep, President Snow as a young dude – as he prepares for the 10th annual Games. We’ve had info dropped in the past that’s indicated young Snow will be a mentor to a District 12 tribute, and that this tribute won’t win the games – but that’s all we’ve got, and tbh I wouldn’t want any more info because half the fun is the unravelling plot, right?
What we DO have now is a reading of the first couple of paragraphs. Suzanne Collins did this exclusively for Bustle, and you can watch it over here.
If you’re a bit TL;DR, the gist is that we find out Tigris – a character you may remember from the original series – is President Snow’s cousin. We also learn that while he lives in the presidential mansion, young Snow is dirt poor – and trying to cover this fact up.
Keen? SAME. The book drops on May 19, and you can pre-order it now.
