Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Nälkäpeli: Balladi laululinnuista ja käärmeistä by Suzanne Collins

7 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Quite literally judging a book by its cover, I had originally written off this one as a cash grab by Collins due the success of The Hunger Games. I have never been so pleased to be proven wrong in my life.

The story follows a tense summer in the life of Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president that we meet in the main trilogy sixty-odd years later. He is eighteen years old and slated to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, a Covey girl living in District 12. He develops an infatuation with her early on, and much of the book is given over to how he tries to keep her safe before and after the 10th Hunger Games. 

The characterization of Coriolanus is incredibly moving, showing how the idealistic teen has his critiques of and subtle attacks on the Capitol used against him and against Lucy Gray. It crushes his spirit, and turns him into the monster who betrays everyone and trusts no one that we later see. Nostalgic nods exist to the main series are plentiful, as it appears that the young Coriolanus was instrumental in the implementation of much of the horror of the Games. 

All-in-all, a wonderful (if stressful!) book that played with my expectations just as cleanly as the Games themselves. I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the main series and wants to hear a tale of how it started!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Excrement

Two of the tributes contract rabies and it is described in detail when they suddenly show symptoms in the arena. Snakes (including snake attacks, one of which is fatal) are common in the book, as the title suggests. There are two hangings of criminals that occur in the book in the latter portion

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

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

mconroy9137's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Deportation

Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement, Dementia, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

this book had a lot of potential - developing the history of the games, giving us a real villain backstory for snow, or discussing the violent side of human nature - but instead an attempt of all of them was made and not done really well. 

i might be in the minority but i didnt think snow was that despicable in this book... i thought he could have been worse. i also thought that the ending was too wrapped up neatly and it would have been nice to have room to guess how snow ended up being the president. 

i still don't understand why we even got a district system in the first place, we just start at the point of them rebelling, which is a real shame. 

loved seeing the little bits of changes that end up being the games in the trilogy 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lastcomment314's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Alcohol