Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

76 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Quite literally judging a book by its cover, I had originally written off this one as a cash grab by Collins due the success of The Hunger Games. I have never been so pleased to be proven wrong in my life.

The story follows a tense summer in the life of Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president that we meet in the main trilogy sixty-odd years later. He is eighteen years old and slated to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, a Covey girl living in District 12. He develops an infatuation with her early on, and much of the book is given over to how he tries to keep her safe before and after the 10th Hunger Games. 

The characterization of Coriolanus is incredibly moving, showing how the idealistic teen has his critiques of and subtle attacks on the Capitol used against him and against Lucy Gray. It crushes his spirit, and turns him into the monster who betrays everyone and trusts no one that we later see. Nostalgic nods exist to the main series are plentiful, as it appears that the young Coriolanus was instrumental in the implementation of much of the horror of the Games. 

All-in-all, a wonderful (if stressful!) book that played with my expectations just as cleanly as the Games themselves. I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the main series and wants to hear a tale of how it started!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Excrement

Two of the tributes contract rabies and it is described in detail when they suddenly show symptoms in the arena. Snakes (including snake attacks, one of which is fatal) are common in the book, as the title suggests. There are two hangings of criminals that occur in the book in the latter portion

rchulin1's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Wow just wow it's hard to not get popular books spoiled but even so l still was surprised. I really was able to transport myself into the games into district twelve on a whole other level. The ending was so surprising I could definitely feel Snow's insanity building something | kept thinking about was the title: the ballad of songbirds and snakes. So at first I assumed the title was to be about Lucy's time in the hunger games the battle between her innocence and her violence which is true in a sense but I feel like the true symbolism was that Snow eventually became another snake Lucy tried to handle in a way. So Lucy is the songbird and Snow is the snake. Throughout the entire book we see Snows internal battle with the mentality he was raised with being a child of the capital and the mentality of someone on the outside although he was only in the Games for a small moment the entire book was in a way his own game. He was stripped of his innocence his way of seeing the capital through rose colored lenses into truly seeing and not only not fearing the capitals ideals but embracing them. A few times he mentions how he impulsively does things and those impulses are his inner self trying to break through even with him aiding Lucy it just shows how selfish he is he saved her for his own benefit. Lastly I deeply appreciated the small nods to the other hunger games books "May the odds ever be in our favor", the meadow song, his dislike of mocking jays, Katniss! I can deeply see how he changed the hunger games and the role he played in the beginning he dislikes how the tributes were transported in cargo holds and in the other books we see the tributes now being in a far fancier train. We see the peacekeepers being more harsh and we see how the arena changes every year so that the former years games doesn't play a role in this years and so on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

catsbreadbikes's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-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

3.0

This book has big "you were named for the bravest man i ever knew" energy for most of the way. I liked learning the history of Panem, but thjs would have been better served as a fictional "history" text, similar to The World of Ice and Fire for the game of thrones books. Being a fictional narrative with a young president snow as the protagonist detracts from the experience of this book, and the choice to have SANTINO FONTANA narrateand NOT have him perform the songs is downright baffling 🤷 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Torture, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

bag_end_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-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

Good prequel to the Hunger Games series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

lindyloo2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Bullying and Grief

lovosii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

A fascinating look into Snow’s journey to being the tyrant we know from the original trilogy, the red flags were there from the beginning. I am choosing to believe

that Lucy Gray survived and escaped into the woods and doesn’t just live on through her songs.

The pacing was a little off sometimes but overall exciting and gripping. Suzanne Collins is a genius. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

loveisabird's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i saw the movie first and while there’s much more in the book that fills the story out much better, there’s definitely some touches/changes from the movie i missed desperately here. coriolanus ripping out his own stitches. tigris’ last line about his father. YOU CAN KISS MY ASS!!!!!

but between the book and the movie together i think i’m even more taken in by this era of THG storyline than the original trilogy. don’t get me wrong i love the story of the final rebellion. but i also just adore worldbuilding and seeing the world of panem getting built, setting up the eventual rebellion, at this earlier point is entrancing to me. the way it recontextualizes things from the original trilogy that are already so provocative… the mockingjay, the hanging tree, the unnamed first district 12 victor, the traditions and spectacle of the hunger games… delicious. 

also like. as much as i hate the bitch coriolanus was a more compelling narrator. then again maybe if katniss’ books weren’t in fucking first person i’d be more into her narration and inner world also. 

finally lucy gray baird is the best character suzanne collins ever created and if you ask me she lived a long life in the woods. maybe not a happy one. but she survived that motherfucker i know it in my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

This was a reread for me because of the movie that just came out. I absolutely loved this book and enjoyed reading the entire thing. It is so fascinating to see Panem before the Hunger Games trilogy and see glimpses at both the world before and the trajectory set in motion because of Snow’s involvement in the games. The last 50 or so pages took quite the turn, and while I like the ambiguous ending, I feel like Snow and Lucy Gray’s feelings took a really quick nosedive that wasn’t quite as developed. I wish Lucy Gray had a little bit more depth, and I think that depth would have helped me understand her choices at the very end a little better since it seemed like Corio’s perception of her was distorted in the woods. Overall, this books makes me want so much more in this world!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Medical content, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Cursing and Eating disorder

magsbord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol