Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

A Balada dos Pássaros e das Serpentes by Suzanne Collins

72 reviews

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

Before reading, I really didn’t think this book was going to be necessary and I didn’t think Snow’s origin story would be worth telling. After reading I think this book is a great addition to the series even if it’s not required reading. It was interesting to see how the world of The Hunger Games evolved from this into the one we see during the main series.

I’m also glad Snow was not made into a sympathetic character. That was a concern of mine and, while Snow is interesting here, he is still incredibly deplorable. It’s also fun that even though he is cunning and great at manipulation, he’s actually pretty stupid at points.

There’s definitely more threads I would have liked to seen just from the original books. I also wouldn’t have been opposed to seeing more of Snow’s career as he ages and becomes more powerful but I guess there could be another sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Terminal illness, Dementia, and Cannibalism

kate_has_book_thoughts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

angelsfw's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: War

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I’m so glad I enjoyed this. I didn’t really know what I was expecting going in, but it wasn’t this. I found this so interesting to see how Snow formed and came to be. It was interesting to see how the hunger games and the capital evolved to what it was in the original trilogy. In my opinion this doesn’t t make you synthesize with Snow in fact it made me hate him more because it shows he was basically always the way he was but not as extreme. I really liked Lucy and the convoy as well as some of the capital kids who had empathy. I was actually shocked at a lot that happened and this was kind of gruesome which I don’t know why but I wasn’t expecting that. I would say if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy pick this up, but know it’s obviously an unlikable character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nellsir's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Dementia

mmwiseheart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I really thought I’d hate this book because I knew it was about Snow. I generally don’t enjoy books about the villains of a story. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep at night. 

Right off the bat, there was a revelation that made connections from The Hunger Games trilogy that I didn’t see coming. And the book continued to surprise me throughout. I also appreciated the background on how the Hunger Games got started and evolved to what they eventually became. 

I do feel like this almost could have been two books. The third part seemed a bit disjointed from the first two parts. However, I still enjoyed the third part. It was a lot of insight into why Snow is the way he is and how he got to his position. It also painted a better picture of the transition from North America to Panem. I’d be interested to read a book about that, as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Gore, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Dementia and Cannibalism

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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

4.5

Writing: 4.75⭐️/5 

As with much of Collins' writing, the book thrives on its visually stunning and well-described settings. What any artistry in her writing might have lacked, she made up for with the impact of the world. And, even with a few stumbly sections in her writing, much of it read cleanly and beautifully–an intriguing insight into a poisonous mind.

Characters: 4.75⭐️/5

A few characters felt a touch jarring, but otherwise, like the setting, the world came alive with the characters. The way in which we understand Corionalus’ thoughts and mental state without overly empathizing with his goals is stunning. The side characters felt explored in their relationship with Coriolanus, meaning the people he liked we knew the most about and the people he thought ill of, we also felt the toxicity of his opinions. 

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

While the plot overall is intriguing and fascinating to watch unfold (believe me, I was slackjawed at several moments), I did feel (SPOILERS HERE) that the resolution of his attempted escape with Lucy Gray was rushed and unclear. Had the book been written in first person, I would’ve accepted this section gleefully as a possible blip in our narration due to an unreliable narrator, but I would have loved more of this section to focus on his mind unravelling a bit slower – as well as Lucy Gray’s realization moving a bit slower – so we could understand this section fully. And, even though I loved all the symbolism that ties us to the original trilogy, the added details connecting Lucy Gray to Katniss’ rebellion and how personally it integrated into Corionalus’ life felt too on the nose. The moment in which Lucy uses the excuse of finding katniss (the plant) to leave him felt a bit too heavy-handed for the analogy that later Katniss (the person) will cause his undoing. The song, The Hanging Tree, being written for him by Lucy also felt too coincidental, especially when tied with his heavy hatred of the mockingjays around District 12 during his time there. I wish some of these tie-backs had been removed or made less vital to slowly grit on his nerves, rather than to so obviously connect him to Katniss. 

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of The Hunger Games trilogy

Content Warnings? 

• Death, murder, child death, parent death, illness, cannibalism, blood, injury, medical trauma, gore

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

I wish it had gone on a bit longer, but I was happy with the conclusion.

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

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

annorabrady'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

When I heard the announcement of this book, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of following President Snow as a youth because I feared it might have taken the route of making him a sympathetic villain like many prequels following villains do. I was pleasantly surprised that the story didn't go that direction. However, it made it hard for me to engage with his story. Most of my attention, instead, went to the stories of the characters around him. I almost wish it had been a story from the POV of a character who was close to him but wasn't him. Someone who could witness his growth into villainy without being the villain themselves. 

That isn't to say that Suzanne Collins did a bad job with this POV. It was really well done. I'm just not a fan of following someone grow into the level of villainy we see in the original books and wearing that growth like a badge of honor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Murder

smalljoys's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Medical content, Dementia, and Grief

taelights's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Honestly I really loved this book. I liked learning more about Snow's story and getting to see how he developed from an annoying school boy into pure evil. I also liked seeing the state of Panem so soon after the war. 

I also enjoyed getting to learn how the hunger games operated in earlier years. How it was somehow even worse than in the OG trilogy and see how the foundations were laid for the format we already knew about. I was honestly shocked about the treatment of the tributes before and during the games many times. It was hard to read at times but it was worth it and gave me a lot to think about especially seeing as I often thought that the hunger games in the trilogy aren't that bad.

Can I just say though I'm so sad about Sejanus and want to fight Snow? I predicted really early on that he'd die so I saw it coming but I'm so sad about how it happened.

Also I do know that there is criticism about the ending but I don't share the same criticism. 

Personally I think there were hints that Coriolanus was getting annoyed with Lucy Gray and wasn't happy with her for multiple chapters before he decided to try to kill her. Plus with how he betrayed Sejanus and killed the mayor's daughter for his personal gain without a care, it didn't seem out of nowhere to me. Especially seeing as I personally never was convinced that Coriolanus fully loved Lucy Gray. To me it always read like he saw her more as something to possess rather than a living breathing girl with feelings. So personally I liked the ending and didn't think it was rushed and out of nowhere for him to turn on her. Especially for his own gain. 

The only thing is I wish I knew for sure what happened to Lucy Gray at the end but I am also satisfied not knowing because it parallels well with her ballad and you can kind of come up with whatever you wish so I can imagine whatever end I want for her and that will be my canon.

Anyways I loved this book and I really hope we get more books in the hunger games universe because I will literally read them all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Mentions of sex work/prostitution that the character was forced into basically due to not having any other choice.