Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

116 reviews

maxenporter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

Spoiler warning for the whole book

Spoiler

I want to start of with, parts of this book really drew me in, other parts were really difficult to get through. The last third felt rushed, and if I had to spend one more page in Heavensbee Hall, I was going to need some morphling. However, what I did find striking about this novel was that Suzanne Collins managed to  capture something not many authors can. This story gives us a close-up look the mentality of narcissistic, abusive men. Coriolanus’ need to justify his every action, constantly basking in his own righteous, or if he felt was wrong, then he was the victim of the situation. The book illustrates how abusive men in power will use power imbalances to get and control women. The whole book, I saw the trauma bond forming between Coriolanus and Lucy Grey. By the end of the story, my creeping suspicion had been confirmed: Coriolanus didn’t love Lucy Grey, he was using her, and then accused her of manipulation to rid himself of blame. Collins must have read extensively about narcissistic abuse, because this is a shocking acurate portrayal of trauma bonding and abuse cycles. Overall, while the book had some problems with pacing, the cliffhangers were JAWDROPPING, the narrative was interesting, and I was satisfied with how the story ended. Good on you, Suzanne Collins. Keep doing what you’re doing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, Cannibalism, Blood, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, and Classism

Moderate: Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit

The Hunger Games series is known to be violent, but I didn’t find it any more violent than Mockingjay was

kdailyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Torture, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Violence, Child death, Blood, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Classism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cannibalism, and Addiction

mgcalder's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, Gun violence, Murder, and Torture

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

4.0

A good book that is darker than the original series and fits the slightly more mature audience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Torture

Minor: Eating disorder

aurora_something's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, Torture, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Death, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Child death, and Classism

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

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

_toristorytime's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Torture

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

I loved the beginning and the end of this book. The unfortunate part was the middle which felt more drawn out than it needed to be.

The characters were great. The main characters were nicely fleshed out. They felt complex and interesting. I loved their introductions and watching their relationships grow and change. I enjoyed seeing how they reacted to the dire situations they found themselves in. 

The actual hunger games part was pretty dull. This is a prequel so the games are significantly more primitive and less wild than in the main series, but I didn't feel immersed. I suppose that's largely because we are seeing the games from Snows perspective, and he is a spectator. 

Then there's a good chunk of story after the games that I just felt was dry and slow. It didn't pick up again until the very end where some major changes happen.

I can see why some people wouldn't like the ending but I thought it was satisfying enough, although it felt quite rushed compared to so much that comes before it.

As far as prequels go, this was decent. It's not better than the hunger games or catching fire but. I think I enjoyed it more than mockingjay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Sexual content

jlcannon's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was certainly an easy read but I don’t feel like it added very much to the original trilogy. The pacing at the end was break-neck and quite the 180 degree turn for the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Torture, Child death, Death, Violence, and War

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

Prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Deportation, and Gun violence