Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins

94 reviews

smasson13's review

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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

This book was a wild ride. While I still prefer the original series, this novel was full of twists! 

At first I was confused as why it didn't end after act 2, and the start of act 3 felt like it was dragging on but not leading anywhere...but the end threw me. I think Suzanne Collins does a lovely jobs of trying to convince you of some sort of compassion in Coriolanus while he is struggling in the Capitol. Yet, by act 3, my hatred was renewed.

I would love to read more about the development of the early Hunger Games, I thought this was a really interesting perspective to take for a prequel novel. 

As well, I know critics seemed not to enjoy the folk songs throughout the book, but I think they lend nicely to the story telling as well as the history of the area of the USA that District 12 apparently occupies. 

Overall, it was a huge novel to get through, but never felt like a struggle. The tension and anticipation was high throughout, though at times frustrating. Definitely recommend it for those who have read the original series, it did not take away from what has already been created. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Confinement, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Death of parent

raeb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Classism, Medical content, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Gore, Torture, and Dementia

elenaluisa's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Injury/injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

zozo_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

Woah was not expecting that. I thought it would focus on the games but the second half was so strange!! Last part freaked me out but worth the read if you like the hunger games.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/injury detail, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

kittygracex07's review

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Medical content

bookthief's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a very interesting book. It was completely different to how I imagined it to be before I read it. I thought it was mainly going to be based around Coriolanus being a mentor but that was only a small portion of the book. 
The first half of the book was a slow pace with each chapter ending in a cliff hanger and the second half got considerably intense and the story changed.
Suzanne Collins originally made us feel sorry for Snow as he was poor and had no parents, but by the end of the book you could see his development from being poor and empathetic to controlling and manipulative. 

Theories :
Could Lucy Gray be Katniss’ grandmother?
Could it be that Katniss’ dad was Lucy Gray’s son and she taught him the Hanging tree song and who taught that to Katniss?
Is Lucy Gray dead or did she run away or escaped to those who she claimed to be hiding in the woods?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcohol, Animal death, War, Death, Grief, and Alcoholism

brittaka's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an excellent prequel to the Hunger Games series! Using Snow’s first-person perspective and his internal musings on the state of nature debate, Collins does a masterful job of displaying the eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow’s descent into the bloodthirsty, villainous President Snow readers of the original series will recognize. On a philosophical level, I love that Collins uses this narrative to argue that Thomas Hobbes (who wrote that humanity needs to be controlled in order to be “civilized”) is wrong. Throughout the book, readers see firsthand that those who champion the need for oppressive and violent control and order only do so in the name in maintaining their own sense of supremacy. Snow doesn’t do any of what he does in this story for the Capitol, for the people of Panem, for Lucy Gray, or even for Tigris and the Grandma’am—it’s all for himself, to satiate his own unquenchable desire for power, authority, and complete control. Snow merely uses Hobbes’s philosophies to justify his violent and selfish actions, which (along with Lucy Gray’s contradicting belief that human beings are good at heart) promotes the idea that Hobbes and Snow have it wrong—an idea that Collins fully endorses in the Hunger Games series itself. In other words, this book says “be anti-facist!” and “ACAB” in all the best ways, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has read the original series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Classism, Murder, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal death, and Death of parent

abigpigeon's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, War, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Drug use

margaret721's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Murder, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Medical content

jonesroni638's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-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: Murder, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence