Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

218 reviews

katie0528's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. I grew up with the Hunger Games and really thought Mockongjay was messy and not clearly thought out. I avoided this, thinking Collins had lost her touch. She certainly has not. This book follows Snow before his presidency, as a young high school senior as he participates in the Hunger Games as a mentor and discovers his personal limits and what lines he is willing to cross for his own personal power.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

readwithsophsx's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nixoneshoe's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

wild_rabbits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

avasbookmark's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Police brutality

thesecretsapphic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

maryconney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Medical content, and War

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

jdgammons's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I enjoyed this book as a character study of Snow but in my reading I was well aware it was written for a younger audience of middle age to high-school age reading level. I found it too perfect how Lucy Grey's music fit perfectly with the music of the next book, like every song she wrote then became a folk song within district 12 and then influenced Katniss. 

I was pretty much annoyed with Sejanus and Snow the entire book and found only Lucy Grey as the only semi enjoyable character but was consistently frustrated with her doe eyed complacency and ignorance. In comparison to Katniss who is one of the strongest women characters in teen fiction I found Lucy Grey lack luster in comparison. 

Snow was the only person who had any sort of character development in the book and non of it good. I found the epilogue where suddenly Snow has no care for consequences very out of character suddenly when he spent the rest of the book careful of any repercussions that may come to him as well as the Plinth family adopting him as well as an easy way to wrap up loose ends with the Snow families low income and the Plinth's loss. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism

dyer's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is incredibly thoughtful in every word. Suzanne Collins covers war, the nature of humanity, censorship, media as a weapon, classism, male mental health and more in 517 short pages. 
I enjoyed reading about an evil character and his origin story. I also loved the relationship between LGB and Coriolanus. He is delusional! He loved thinking he controlled her, owned her. He loved the fantasy of her. A manic pixie dream girl that may trick the audience too.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

9/10. I really enjoyed this book. Coriolanus is a very complicated character and an unreliable narrator which makes him so intriguing. However, I was worried that he was going to come across as the hero of this story (considering how awful he is from the original trilogy) but thankfully his paranoia and selfishness permeate every page. Essentially, he is the main character but he is still a villain or at the very least problematic. It is fascinating seeing things from his point of view and even understanding his actions while also recognizing that he could have acted more humane. Coriolanus is more humanized because of this book since we get to see his hardships and emotions, but his putrid personality still affects everything he touches. Additionally, I love the Covey and addition of songs with their meaningful lyrics embedded in the story. It helped that I could listen to the movie's soundtrack, though, to actually grasp the songs' tunes.  I knew how this book would go because I saw the movie first but I enjoyed the book so much more because I could actually understand his motivations and thought processes. Suzanne Collins does a great job of portraying him while also writing him in a way that clearly does not excuse his behavior. As always, I am in love with her writing and will always praise her work. 

SPOILERS:

As I said, I watched the movie before reading the book so I knew the events of the book. While watching the movie, I wondered if Coriolanus actually loved Lucy Gray like he said or if he felt attracted to her but was manipulating her for his own benefit. I guess both could be true, but the book makes it clear that he does actually love her even though his own paranoia, selfishness, and manipulation spoil even the most pure thing in his life.  The concepts of trust and love come up in this book quite a lot, especially at the end, and I think it is fascinating to examine what those concepts look and feel like. Coriolanus claims to love and trust Lucy Gray (even to himself) but ultimately proves that while he may love her, he is incapable of truly trusting anyone. I think the only person Coriolanus ever truly trusted was Tigris and we know that he ended up having a falling-out with her later in life. Considering his actions throughout the book (causing Sejanus's death, murdering people, becoming a Peacekeeper/cop, horrendously improving the Hunger Games, turning on Lucy Gray), I take deep satisfaction that he grows up to be miserable and alone. Snow may land on top, but tyrants always fall eventually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and War