3.5 stars rounded up
WOW so the best part of this for me was the worldbuilding. I liked seeing how things came to be and all that. I was hesitant to read this for sooo long bc I didn't want to empathize with Snow but I'm glad that imo, we see that he's still a bad person through and through and does things very calculated and for his own personal gain.
Do I think this book was necessary? Not really. Do I regret reading it? No! I had fun! I think this would be a fun read for anyone interested in hunger games politics. I see a lot of reviews saying that this book in particular felt "fanfictiony" and I can totally see that. But at the same time, I think it's also just as well written as the other books?

TLDR: I had fun!