Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Balada dos Pássaros e das Serpentes by Suzanne Collins

244 reviews

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

This book was amazing. I went into this a bit worried that it was going to be another tragic villain backstory, and I am happy to report that, while Snow does experience hardship and struggle, that is not really what this is. This book follows 18 year old Snow as a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games, and it details the very early beginnings of his rise to power. I thought it handled his character in a really interesting way, by setting him up to be a sympathetic character but showing how, despite struggling in many things, he is not a good person. He is still prejudiced and controlling, even when responding to hardship or experiencing romance and "friendship." I thought it was an interesting take on his character, and a super complex and nuanced one as well. As I was reading, I would almost feel bad for him, but then he would say/think/do something that reminded me of what he's going to do and that he's going to do it for completely selfish reasons. The dynamic between him and Lucy Gray was so interesting to explore, as was the dynamic between him and Sejanus. Lucy Gray was also a highlight of this book for me. She was such a great character to learn about, and the contrast set up between her and Snow was pretty cool to me. I found her to interesting, because at first she seems a bit weird, but as you get to know her and learn about her life and her past, you get to understand her in a very deep way. Something else I was worried about, that the main female character would be too similar to Katniss, since Katniss is such an interesting and engaging character, but I really shouldn't have doubted Suzanne Collins. Lucy Gray is so different from Katniss, yet there are so many connections between them that were so well done. Sejanus was another highlight for me. He had a unique and interesting story, and though he as a person was sometimes seen as annoying, he was a very good person in his heart, and I couldn't help but love him. He serves to represent almost the ideal of goodness to contrast with Snow and other Capitol citizens, and I thought it was well done. There are some truly horrifying moments in this book, and Suzanne Collins did not shy away from it at all. It was horrific but incredible. Overall, I loved this book, and I am so glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and War

river_jean_sterling's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

kate_arts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

lua_pires's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Gore, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism and Death of parent

mle11's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Torture, Vomit, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

rhiannonhoward's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

tuc39033's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty

cardan_greenbriar_1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Vraiment j'ai adoré, comme tous les autres tomes mais j'ai mis que 4 car je l'ai trouvé un peu long à certains moments.
J'ai adoré Lucy gray mais le personnage de Coriolanus est détestable. Il utilise tout le monde pour avoir du pouvoir. 
<spoilerIl fait semblant d'être l'ami de Sejanus, il utilise Lucy Gray pour remporter le prix Plinth, même si au final il l'a pas eu parce qu'ils se sont rendus compte de sa tricherie. Il cherche tout le temps à excuser ses actes en se disant qu'il avait pas le choix alors que si

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction

bxnny's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Chronic illness and Excrement