Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

218 reviews

wallywoahjack's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

4.25

You have no idea how many notes there are in my copy that literally say either “Jesus Christ”, “DUDE” or “my god”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Stalking, and Death of parent

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Kidnapping

lay_kone's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jeimy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.25

I'm not entirely sure what I expected from this book, but it definitely was a surprise. The good:

• It was fascinating to know Snow's background and upbringing, and see how his thinking evolved over time to become, eventually, President Snow.
• I loved learning about the early versions of the Hunger Games.
  They were incredibly barbaric and heartless—I almost found myself yearning for the masked civility of the current rendition of the Games (even though there's no good way to make children kill each other for sport.)
• Lucy Gray is an incredible character. I rooted for her and found her to be one of the only truly likable characters in this book. 
• The way Suzanne Collins is able to write nuanced characters is always fascinating to me. I both empathized with Snow and hated him at the same time. 

The not-so-good (to me):

• The book is split into three parts, and I found that each one went on for a little too long. They definitely could have been shortened.
• I so wanted to know what happened to Lucy Gray. My personal hope is that she survived and is a direct ancestor of Katniss (or another member of the Covey is). How else would Katniss' father know the songs Lucy Gray sang and even the name "katniss"?
• Compared to the current Games, the Hunger Games in this novel were almost... boring. 

Overall, I do wish I had read this before reading the original series! I think it would have been fascinating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent and War

brandonssmead's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and War

vailtoset10's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

romanticmelody's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A wonderful read. Coriolanus is a complex character that you'd love to hate. Never have I thought I'd ever imagine Coryo to be a brat of a character. Snobby and always looking for a way to uplift his family name. And too whatever happened to Lucy Gray is a mystery, and I like it that way. I would have been upset if Lucy Gray had turned up dead in the end. And may Coryo rot in hell for eternity for the betrayal he has done against my baby, Sejanus. Sejanus had a good heart, but he put his trust in the wrong character. I love you, Sejanus!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, and War

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This prequal was a villain origin story of both Snow and  the Capital.  It’s how they came to be what they are in the Hunger Games. 
I loved the dynamic of Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Grey, and Sejanus. I think it paints a broad picture of Snow and how he falls further down the power hungry hole that leads to manipulation of people. He was a starving child who would do anything for himself to survive and make his family proud. Even if this means the trust and love and friendship between him and others is thrown away in favor of control. 
Not a perfect book: it had some pacing issues but overall I liked this a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Vomit

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ladywhiskers's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The best example of an unreliable narrator I've read recently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism

megbook's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction