Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

336 reviews

_dina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Child death, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Medical content, Grief, Addiction, Gaslighting, Blood, Alcoholism, Death, Classism, Bullying, and Alcohol

galbi's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed the movie, but am SO glad I read the book. There were many changes from the source material—arguably not consequential ones, at least individually, but IMO the totality of these differences resulted in a significant departure from the book in terms of character and thematic elements.

Suzanne Collins really said, “Your pretentious classmate who makes sweeping statements about the inherent depravity and violence of ‘human nature’ is a selfish asshole who’s going to end up going to hell if they don’t get their head straight on.” And good for her. Good for her. 

Reminded me a little bit of one of my favorites, Tender is the Flesh, in that the protagonist is an excellent showcase of a truly horrible person who is probably more like you(/me/any of us) than is comfortable to admit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Child death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Cannibalism

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Classism, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, Misogyny, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Excrement, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Confinement, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcoholism

erikalv97's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Violence, Classism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Cannibalism, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Bullying, Alcohol, Addiction, War, Toxic friendship, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

eed8's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Confinement, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

mckinna_cobb's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

LOVED THIS BOOK! Read it prior to watching the movie and it was so much better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Cannibalism, and Child death

eguare's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The primary tension of this book comes from its status as a prequel, wherein the reader already knows that the main character is the primary villain of the Hunger Games trilogy 60-ish years after the events of this book. Knowing that, the book has a dark, ominous cloud over it even in the parts that would, in any other book, provide hope for the protagonist's redemption. The characterization and deep dive into the motivations of "future President Snow" were fascinating and often heart-droppingly horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Gore, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Death, Classism, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

lj_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow. This was a much more complex story than that of the original Hunger Games trilogy. It's violent, dark, compelling, and a wonderful way to set up Katniss's story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Violence, War, Death, Classism, Blood, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Addiction, and Grief

elspethmigliore's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

this was INSANE. the perfect way to begin the series. it literally sets up the latter books in the most beautiful way im in awe.

at first, i shipped lucy and snow SO HARD bc like obviously. but then i kept reading and i realized how they were so different and how power-hungry snow is that i knew it couldn’t work. and i’m glad it didnt. i dont think either of them deserve to be stuck with the other, despite how evil snow becomes. he’s good deep down, but whats engrained in him could never leave. i wish they had a better goodbye, but also i think it was the most clever way to end their story.

i cannot get over how they ended. what incredible revenge they had on each other. and i genuinely cannot get over how perfectly this sets up for the trilogy. 

it’s so eerie to know how in control the capitol is with every situation, but it makes for an even more satisfying end when it comes to the later trilogy. lucy sets up for katniss’s character perfectly. 

also, i know when i watch the movie im gonna ship them so hard bc tom blyth is so hot, but i still stand by what i said. 

✅ ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WILL BE REREADING THIS WAS INSANE

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Classism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Murder, Drug use, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Medical trauma, War, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse

vreyna20_2004's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Coriolanus is fucking insane. The things he would come up to rationalize his actions or the feelings he was having were mind boggling. There was times that I thought maybe he would change that he was going to finally give up the whole Hunger Games thing and forget/to free everyone from the Capitol and join forces with Sejanus as if hoping would change the outcome.

I cried when he had betrayed Sejanus after he was excited to see him when he was sent to become a Peacekeeper and that he recorded Sejanus confided to him about his plans before tossing everything so that Dr. Gaul could hear. The one person that had Coriolanus shivering in his boots, that was the person he wanted to hear the confession as well save him. Then the spiral Coryo had when he escaped with Lucy Gray made me pray that even if she was alive that she would never step foot near the small house they stayed in. And then Coriolanus poisoning Casca Highbottom (which I kept reading as Caca Highbottom cause I’m mature like that) broke me. He wanted the Hunger Games to never exist and now is drinking and doping himself to death just like Haymitch and that hurt me. Fuck Dr. Gaul and fuck Coriolanus Snow (I still like those edits).

My only real complaint is how little impact the tributes had or at least how Suzanne just wrote something quick about them to then fully expand on Lucy Gray which I get it’s because it’s in Coriolanus’ point of view and he only cares about Lucy Gray but it’s just a me thing that’s all.

It was different from the series following Katniss and the beginning of the second rebellion. I was going to dnf the book cause I felt so annoyed with Coriolanus bitching and moaning but I trekked through it and I’m happy I did cause now I don’t know how to feel about the book. It wasn’t bad obviously since I gave it a good rating but it’s the fact that he went through all this and then became the horrendous person that he is during the 74th to 76th Hunger Games. And I liked that Suzanne Collins didn’t write a sad story for him excusing his actions and instead wrote a story about how he was never going to change despite him questioning himself about changing it was fitting for him. But I also don’t think the book was necessary to read or be written but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, Death, and War

Moderate: Vomit

hangings