Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

A Balada dos Pássaros e das Serpentes by Suzanne Collins

86 reviews

bohemianhermit04'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Cannibalism

david_slack110507's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

I was not expecting for this book to end the way that it did and for me to be so engrossed throughout but this was honestly a really fun read that had very few issues for me. I haven't read the original trilogy of books as I mainly read this book in anticipation for the movie adaptation to come out and I have watched the movie adaptations of the original trilogy but this book has made me want to start reading the original 3 books as I really enjoyed the way that the story was told in this and I would not be surprised if the movie adaptations of the original trilogy left things out of those books. 

It was such an interesting choice to centre the book around the very antagonist of the original series in President Snow, who is simply just Coriolanus here and nothing much else other than having the last name Snow and the reputation that comes with that name. This was a good way of characterising Snow more so then what was done in the original entries into the franchise, and it was done so in being able to add layers to Snow's character while also being able to show how morally corrupt he was and how he didn't suddenly become evil, rather it was a slow process that becomes cemented in the final few chapters of the book and the epilogue in particular - essentially it does not just write off his actions as byproducts of what happened to him in this book and make him a misunderstood villain but rather that the intention behind his later actions was always there but just amplified by this book's events. Lucy Gray was also such a fascinating character too as she truly is someone in the wrong place at the wrong time that brings out the best in someone as bad as Snow and gets nothing good for her efforts and contributions, I like how different she is to Katniss and how being a performer, she immediately adapts to the publicity of the Games and survives because of it. I really liked the two of them as characters but there were also many others that I really liked and/or found fascinating and wanted to see more of such as Tigris, Sejanus, Dean Highbottom, Dr Gaul and more. 

Speaking of the Games, they were really interesting to read about as we get it from the perspective of an onlooker (Coriolanus) while Lucy Gray, the one of the two that is actually in the Hunger Games, is trying to survive and fight for her life and so we don't read about any of the action that takes place other than what is seen on the monitors and yet it doesn't get boring and instead adds to the level of mystery and intrigue of the book which is something that it continues on with it's ending and resolution or there lack of for Lucy Gray's fate. It was also really interesting to have the Games as a sort of midway point in the book and to end the first half or so of the book rather than have it be the climatic battle/act that you would expect it to be instead allowing for Snow and Lucy Gray's relationship to grow following the aftermath of Games and their respective participation in it as mentor and competitor/participant, when they both return to District 12. This really solidified the strength of the book for me as it continued to thrive past its main selling point of the Hunger Games and instead allowed for more of a character study of the two to take place. 

I feel like my only issue with this really is the fact that at times the pacing felt a little off as it stayed a little too focused on something that didn't seem to have too much significance but that's only really a minor issue I had with the book and only knocks it down a little from being an actual 5 star book to one that's rounded up from 4.5. I'm really interested in seeing how the movie adaptation manages to cover all this information as there is a lot here and I'm sure that there are references scattered about, besides from the obvious ones, to the original trilogy so I really hope that it delivers as this is such a wonderfully written and engaging story that has you become deeply invested in a previously unseen and unheard of character (That actually makes sense given the context) and the central villain who appeared to be just pure evil but is much more layered than that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

keelirae113's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, and Cannibalism

arikaking's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

absolutely phenomenal book; i finished it days ago, and cannot stop thinking about it! the music, the mystery, the craziness it was all so fast paced and really made you understand how terrible and messed up both coriolanus and the capitol are. 

knowing everything about lucy gray baird is so so wild! the way she wrote the hanging tree and (possibly) deep in the meadow. even the way that her ballad is a foreshadow of what happens to her at the end. there’s no way katniss’ father was not a covey. (most likely the son of maude ivory)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and War

Minor: Cannibalism

goldnhabitx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

Such a great book

you can see the downfall off his character as he becomes how we know him in the main books. i also love the mockingjay references

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism

xandriaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I am conflicted. I enjoyed reading Suzanne Collins again; the writing and world building is what you'd expect from a book. Well done and raises the bar for my next reads.

Coriolanus? I have a renewed hate for this man. Every single thing was him being worried about how it would reflect on him, tarnishing his reputation. I'm glad this wasn't a redemption arc for him.

The Covey? Protect them at all cost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Cannibalism

te_ss_i's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Disliked the narrator for this one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

carmenflorea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol

quinn24's review against another edition

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

5.0

The Hunger Games prequel following an 18-year-old President Snow  as a mentor in the 10th hunger games. 
and holy shit oh my god this is SUCH an incredible prequel. It’s absolutely fascinating the ways in which snow is so self important yet insecure and the way that he lies and justifies things to himself barely even needing outside influence. The way he views the games and his peers and Lucy Gray. The ways in which he is treated by the system and he clearly notices the faults in the system and yet continues to uphold it. All the parallels and references to the trilogy oh my god my brain is exploding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism, and War