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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
A Balada dos Pássaros e das Serpentes by Suzanne Collins
50 reviews
backwardsreesa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Vomit, and Murder
becca_w_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Slavery, and Kidnapping
Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Genocide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
kt2e56's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
t seems like Collins had to go back on quite a bit in order to make this narrative fit in with what she already told us in the original trilogy.
I’d say that some other issues with this book are that most of the characters are just…flat. Dr. Gaul with her ridiculous nursery rhymes is too cartoonish of a villain, Lucy Gray is a manic pixie dream girl (which on the one hand makes sense because we’re seeing her from Snow’s POV, but that doesn’t make her any less grating), the rest of the Covey and their weird country bumpkin way of life are equally as grating and Snow himself has zero shades of gray. He’s awful all the way through (I’ll get back to this).
The most interesting characters by far are Sejanus Plinth and Dean Highbottom, both of whom I kind of wish had been the POV characters for this prequel.
BUT I will say that in terms of politics and big picture ideas, this book is way more ambitious than the original trilogy. Yes, Snow is a bit one note but I *do* actually appreciate that. He’s a fascist, point blank. He’s an elitist bigot whose family has fallen on hard luck but we don’t ever have to feel sympathy for him because he STILL clings to that bigotry even though it’s glaringly obvious that The Capitol is to blame for his family’s trauma. It’s also VERY interesting that Collins doesn’t even attempt to hide the links between fascism and misogyny.
And Collins making it abundantly obvious that Coriolanus doesn’t truly LOVE Lucy Gray but seeks to own and possess her is actually really great. There’s no love story here. We know Lucy Gray is doomed from the moment she’s in his clutches. He wouldn’t have done ANYTHING for her if he didn’t want to fuck her so badly tbh. This was so obviously going to end one way and I’m glad that Collins didn’t chicken out and went for it and avoided giving him a change of heart although I wish she wasn’t so ambiguous with it.
The ending as a whole was another issue for me. It felt a bit rushed and convoluted and I wish Snow’s meeting with Highbottom was stretched out just a little more as opposed to stuffed into the epilogue.
All in all though, this was a solid read and I’m sure I’ll be seeing the movie in the Fall. I’m curious if Collins will be expanding even further on this world or not…
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Trafficking, and Gaslighting
dativa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
It is a heavy read in the sense of understanding the ways it is explicitly and implicitly exposing real life; something like watching a Black Mirror episode I guess.jodean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
al of this one. But it's an exception.
I don't think anything can compare to the original trilogy, but this book makes me look at it all in a new light. It answers questions I didn't think to ask.
<Spoiler>Also, Sejanus deserved better and God I hope Lucy Gray made it somewhere better.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
ellaticonstellation's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War
em_w's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Gaslighting, War, and Classism
rebecca_bluedragonskeep_books's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
mattiedancer's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
- Fans of The Hunger Games trilogy
- Death, murder, child death, parent death, illness, cannibalism, blood, injury, medical trauma, gore
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Sexism
gildedspines's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment