I loved the lyrical and whimsical start of the book with references of leaves, earth and everything around that. Simultaneously, we also follow the mysterious missing of a lady named Nisha, who works on the Cyprus island as a nanny and maid. Always be kind to the land, the people, and the animals that are on it. Remember that. it's the most important rule in the world." This story has it's beauty and it's message. The plight of the songbirds parallels the plight of the migrant domestic workers in many ways. I bring up the incredibly disturbing descriptions of brutality and destruction for those who have trouble reading such things, as I do. In August 2017, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer expressed interest in spin-offs of The Hunger Games, with intentions to create a writers' room to explore the concept. [11] Goldsbrough, Susannah (May 19, 2020). "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, review: less Hunger Games, more sixth-form philosophy". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved May 20, 2020.

Even though it’s been nearly two years since I read Christy Lefteri’s award-winning second novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo, one of the things that has continued to stay with me whenever I think of that book is the affecting, haunting nature of the story. While I might not remember every detail of the plot, I do remember the gut-wrenching emotions that the story evoked. I was moved by Nuri’s and Afra’s heartrending story detailing their harrowing journey from war-torn Syria to Great Britain, trying their best to survive as refugees in a foreign and not necessarily welcoming country. Lefteri’s newest work, Songbirds, is written in a similar vein — a poignant, heartbreaking story that centers on foreign domestic workers on the Greek island of Cyprus. D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 31, 2022). "Rachel Zegler To Play Lucy Gray Baird In Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes' ".Sejanus Plinth - Coriolanus' classmate and fellow mentor in the Games. Originally from District 2, Sejanus now lives in the Capitol because of his father's connections and business during the war. He is rebellious and idealistic, and strongly opposes the Capitol's treatment of the Districts and the existence of the Games. Sejanus ends up a Peacekeeper alongside Coriolanus and considers him one of his closest friends, yet it is Coriolanus who eventually exposes him as a traitor to the Capitol and ensures his death. In this heartfelt novel by the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, a Sri Lankan domestic worker goes missing from her employer’s home in Cyprus, and the widowed homeowner herself sets out to find her after the police show no interest.” — The New York Times In Dr. Gaul's lab, Coriolanus notices a tank of the mutated snakes. Realizing they will be released during the Games, he drops his handkerchief containing Lucy Gray’s scent into the tank. Inside the arena, the snakes kill several tributes, but ignore Lucy Gray. After several days, Lucy Gray wins the Games due to the snakes and a container of rat poison that Coriolanus provided. At a victory celebration, Casca Highbottom, the game's intellectual author, confronts Coriolanus about his cheating. Threatened with his family's public disgrace, Coriolanus reluctantly joins the Peacekeepers for twenty years, and chooses to stay in District 12. Your highly-anticipated review of the 'Hunger Games' prequel book". EW.com . Retrieved May 20, 2020.

Nisha's lover, Yiannis, had also been in economic trouble when an acquaintance involved him in illegally poaching songbirds as they fly between Europe and Africa. But Yiannis finds that the organization does not allow anyone to leave.I write this review with tears still on my cheeks from finishing this beautiful novel. Songbirds felt vastly different to me than Lefteri’s first novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo but like Beekeeper it is a beautifully written tale so tiny in its cast of characters and so huge in the global scope of the story and so, so relevant and important. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 28, 2022). " 'Hunger Games' Prequel 'The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes' Gets 2023 Release Date – CinemaCon". Deadline . Retrieved April 29, 2022. Beautiful cover, beautiful writing but the subject matter was difficult, heartbreaking to read. The second book I've read set in Cyprus and in both books the eating of songbirds is a delicacy. In this book the trapping if the birds was given in more, heart-rending detail. The Hopetrapping of the birds is in juxtaposition to the trapping of women, or rather the traps they are led into. Nisha had left her home in Sri Lanka, left her young daughter in the care of her mother and came to Cyprus to earn money to send home. Like many necessary workers she is not really seen as a person but as someone to take advantage of without any recourse in a country that is not her own. A warm thank you to Diane S. and Angela M. for introducing me to this novel. My experience is vastly different than theirs. The story here is centered around Nisha, a Sri Lankan maid who has left her baby daughter Kumari behind after the tragic death of her husband, to go work as a house maid for a woman called Petra in Cyprus, who has coincidentally also lost her husband and has to take care of her own daughter while working. During her stay in Cyprus, Nisha forms a close bond with Petra's daughter, and becomes an inseparable part of the family. She simultaneously builds up a romantic relationship with a Cypriot man named Yiannis, who is involved in an illegal bird hunting project with his childhood close friend, and depends on this arrangement to financially survive. The lives of Petra and Yiannis intertwine when one day, Nisha disappears mysteriously without a trace.

It began with a crunch of leaves and earth. So early, so cold, the branches shone with ice. I'd returned to collect the songbirds. They are worth more than their weight in gold. Euphoria' Star Hunter Schafer Joins 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' ". Variety. June 22, 2022 . Retrieved June 24, 2022. The police refuse to take on the case, their feeling being that migrant workers are by nature transitory. Searching For Answers An ally is found in Mr Tony, a Cypriot man whose Limassol café has become a safe place for migrant workers to meet. Hayes, Dade; D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 5, 2021). " 'Hunger Games' Prequel To Start Production In First Half Of 2022, Lionsgate Film Boss Joe Drake Says". Deadline . Retrieved August 6, 2021.Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes': Peter Dinklage to Co-Star in Lionsgate Prequel". July 18, 2022. Petra and Yiannis must form an uneasy coalition, if they’re to get to the bottom of Nisha’s disappearance. When the police refuse to pursue the case, Petra takes on the investigation herself, a path that leads her to Nisha's friends- other workers in the neighbourhood-and to the dealers side of a migrant's life, where impossible choices leave them vulnerable, captive, and worse. We are so far away from this wise and important foundation of being. We live in a world where people are unkind, who exploit--the land, the animals, each other. We live in a world where we don't see people for who they are, and get lost so deeply within ourselves we don't even see who we are. It’s his sad duty to trap and kill songbirds illegally, for his intimidating employer (and childhood friend), Seraphim. An Uneasy Coalition