Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

A Balada dos Pássaros e das Serpentes by Suzanne Collins

272 reviews

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

jessiesnoww's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I LOVED the first 2/3 of the book, but then the pace slowed way down and the stakes were much lower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

emilymayreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

polyanarchist'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

pagesihavenotyetread's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

vonaegir'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

3.75

better than i expected. suzanne collins excels in writing something that keeps you guessing at the details despite you knowing where things are going in broad strokes. hard to ask for more, and yet i was still left wanting by the end. the character writing and internal thoughts of our narrator are a standout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, War, and Classism

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bubblybelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

meh?? this was fine i guess? snow’s personality felt very all of the place and wishy washy which made it hard to get any sort of grasp on him as a character. also for it being a villain origin story, it just didn’t work imo. we knew he was evil going into it, so 500
pages of him mostly just doing more cruel things wasn’t surprising. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

kirstencholewa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

aino_maria23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Stalking