Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

119 reviews

metelfordwrites's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Blood, Torture, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Grief, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Child death, Gore, Addiction, War, Violence, Death, Cursing, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

jbird_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death of parent, War, Child death, Cannibalism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol

erikalv97's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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: Murder, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Violence, Classism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Cannibalism, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Bullying, Alcohol, Addiction, War, Toxic friendship, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

elspethmigliore's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

this was INSANE. the perfect way to begin the series. it literally sets up the latter books in the most beautiful way im in awe.

at first, i shipped lucy and snow SO HARD bc like obviously. but then i kept reading and i realized how they were so different and how power-hungry snow is that i knew it couldn’t work. and i’m glad it didnt. i dont think either of them deserve to be stuck with the other, despite how evil snow becomes. he’s good deep down, but whats engrained in him could never leave. i wish they had a better goodbye, but also i think it was the most clever way to end their story.

i cannot get over how they ended. what incredible revenge they had on each other. and i genuinely cannot get over how perfectly this sets up for the trilogy. 

it’s so eerie to know how in control the capitol is with every situation, but it makes for an even more satisfying end when it comes to the later trilogy. lucy sets up for katniss’s character perfectly. 

also, i know when i watch the movie im gonna ship them so hard bc tom blyth is so hot, but i still stand by what i said. 

✅ ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WILL BE REREADING THIS WAS INSANE

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, Classism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Murder, Drug use, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Medical trauma, War, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Emotional abuse

zghutcheson01's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot and if you want an intro into philosophy about the human condition and role of government (think Hobbes, Locke, etc.), this is the perfect book for you. I wish I got to see more of Lucy Gray and the Covey from a perspective other than Snow’s but that would defeat the whole point so can’t complain too much about that

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Bullying, Grief, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Vomit

Minor: Body horror, Misogyny, Addiction, Gun violence, Blood, War, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Animal death, and Trafficking

sweetjuly_src's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Gore, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Dementia, Mental illness, Animal death, Murder, Cannibalism, and Bullying

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I have to admit I liked this more than I thought I would. I watched the Hunger Games series in the theaters, and my goddaughter wanted to watch this one. We never made it to this one. We’ll probably stream it. The ones I saw were so gruesome that I was expecting to shrink while reading each page, but I was surprised. I liked this first book, the insights into how Snow got his start. Now feeling more open to the rest of the series, which my goddaughter started reading at 13 (her capacity for gore at such a young age shocked me). I shall grow my own bravery on her bravery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Drug use, Death, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

the_pysselfia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Addiction, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

sqbxxks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Soooo where do I even begin.

 First of all I loved the idea and concept of the book. I love reading about the flip side of things. Seeing contradicting POVs and exploring a world I already know even more. This book is about  influence and indoctrination. This book is deeply philosophical and reflects on different philosophical constitutional standpoints which I found so amazingly incorporated into the book. Students discussing war plans in class, debating moral questions about humanity, Coriolanus having to write a paper on the good side of war,to justify war, the topic of education, the topic of reputation, the privilege of the rich: if one book lets you reflect on everything going wrong in the world it is this one.

I have never read a book which focuses on how  the boy turns into the villain and tbh I loved and hated it at the same time. When you find the MC of a book not likeable or you know how the story will end it can be really frustrating to follow the characters train of thoughts. There are people who sympathize with Snow after reading the book? Showing this human side of him made it even worse for me, made me hate him even more. It really shows how deeply evil he is.  

This book made me feel so bad at times, it was so brutal and honestly gross: but that was the point right. A mirror for the reader to reflect the real world, the past and the essence of being a human. Reading this at this time with everything happening in the world- I think one has to be prepared when going into this book. It can be deeply upsetting (check trigger warnings!) 

The only thing I didn’t like was that this book felt sometimes repetitive due to the fact that we follow Coriolanus living his “normal life” but the more I think about this fact the more I reflect on how this is also so intentional by the author: this book’s purpose is not to be the most adventurous one like the HG often is.

I loved seeing this other side to the Games and how ideas were crafted that influenced Katnisse´s Games 70 years later.  The parallels and explanations, the deeper insight and understanding we got of many characters and plot points.

So overall when we talk about the topics discussed, the brilliantness of the author I think this book is a masterpiece but the execution could have been a little bit  better. But I loved coming back to this world again and I want to read about the backstory of more characters like Effie Trinket or Haymitch!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Violence

vannahcabana's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

If you’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy then you’ll enjoy this book. It follows the story of President Snow from his younger years. Definitely filled in some story line info for the trilogy. It’s obviously dark in theme like the trilogy so be prepared! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Classism, and Alcohol