Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

15 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!

---

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.

---

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

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

---

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. 

---

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

kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism and Medical trauma

paigeinabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I never thought Suzanne Collins could get any Suzanne Collins, but she did! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

charlieemagne's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

minamean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse and Cannibalism

midnightverde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

What a wild ride this book was. I think it’s my favorite from the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I have to admit I liked this more than I thought I would. I watched the Hunger Games series in the theaters, and my goddaughter wanted to watch this one. We never made it to this one. We’ll probably stream it. The ones I saw were so gruesome that I was expecting to shrink while reading each page, but I was surprised. I liked this first book, the insights into how Snow got his start. Now feeling more open to the rest of the series, which my goddaughter started reading at 13 (her capacity for gore at such a young age shocked me). I shall grow my own bravery on her bravery. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail