Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

63 reviews

emercedesrich's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book's prequel status is aided by reading the original trilogy first, for anyone who is just getting into this story for the first time!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Classism, Death, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, and Vomit

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This book came out three years ago at the time of writing this review, and I read it almost immediately after it came out. It had been a while since I had consumed any Hunger Games-related media and I was just happy to be back in the universe, and I was a bit confused by what was going on. There seemed to be a romance between Coriolanus Snow and a girl from District 12 that I wasn't happy with at all and the plot was a bit all over the place, but I still gave it four stars for enjoyment.

Now it's three years later and I've re-read the entire trilogy as well as rewatched all of the movies before diving back into this one, in preparation for the new movie coming out, and I have a lot of new insights (also thanks to people on the internet talking about this book again). I think the most important takeaway is this: above all else, this book is a character study of Coriolanus Snow, a boy who has grown up by the idea that the Capitol is Good and the Districts are Bad, and that Bad people need to be controlled by Good people. In a sense, he resembles men who accept the patriarchy as unfaultable, and he acts like a 'Nice Guy' too.
 
*spoilers below*
From the very beginning of this book, it's very clear that Snow doesn't view people as anything other than tools. He doesn't have friends, he has allies. He doesn't connect with people, he keeps them on his side. Sejanus is the loudest example of this, where even after his death, he is useful to Snow because his parents are willing to give him money. But it also happens with Lucy Gray: first and foremost, keeping her alive is a way for Snow to get a step ahead in life.

There's a second layer to his relationship with Lucy Gray, though: possession. Throughout the entire story, Snow might think he's in love with her, but actually he wants to own her. She is his girl, he keeps repeating in his head. He gets incredibly angry at even the thought of her having a life outside of the Capitol, wants her to erase all the songs she wrote about Billy Taupe, and he feels like she owes him love because he saved her life (he has a similar thought about Sejanus, too: that he saved his life and therefore he owed him, even though Snow caused his death sentence).

Lucy Gray seems to reciprocate Coriolanus's love, as in: she kisses him back, flirts with him, even writes songs about him. But we also know about her that she flirts a lot with people as part of her job, to make them give the Covey more money. And we know that she's very clever. So it might all just be an act - which is confirmed at the end of the book, when she gets Snow alone, interrogates him, and then flees after he finds the weapons, leaving a snake to bite him. The flirting, the loving - it was all a ruse to get him to leave, one way or another. And Coriolanus notices that, and he gets very scary for a moment - like Jack Torrence or any other horror villain, he promises his victim that he's not going to hurt her when he inevitably will. Because if he can't have her, no one can (plus he's trying to save face, like he always has).

All of this is very subtle and I missed it upon my first read - what I thought was, that this book was a poorly done romance that I didn't quite root for, but now I know that all of it was intentional. Just like the other Hunger Games books had subtle emotional undertones that I didn't get the first time I read those. I think that just speaks to the craftmanship of Suzanne Collins.

I do still agree, though, that the plot is a little bit messy, especially towards the end. He gets shipped back to the Capitol and finds out that his stint as a Peacekeeper was just a summer job, then he has a conversation with Dr. Gaul about what the Hunger Games really mean, and then he has a conversation with Dean Highbottom that I think could've been explored more. In a way it makes sense that Snow wouldn't really care to ruminate on the things he said but I thought it was really interesting that in a way, Snow was filling his Dad's shoes by 'improving' the Hunger Games together with Dr. Gaul and I'd like to think about what he actually meant by 'like moths to a flame'. I feel like there's multiple interpretations there.
*end of spoilers*

Long story short, I think there is much more to this book than meets the eye. It's not one for the masses, I fear, but I respect that. I'm very excited to go see the movie this weekend and I hope it's just as good - although I fear that it won't be. This movie series doesn't have a history of portraying the subtleties of the books that well, instead focusing on the spectacle, which is very ironic if you think about it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: War, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Vomit

sonjaswanson's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

The chapters at the end got really long, but the last 40 pages was a great ending of the book. Much more gruesome than the original trilogy, also more philosophical. Will forever love this series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, War, Child death, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

bridget_magpie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

OMG HOW DID SHE MAKE ME ROOT FOR SNOW???? Like I was literally annoyed with him for things not going his way then I remembered this is Snow who we’re talking about 😅😅 Can’t wait to see it in the cinema, it’s gonna be so good! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Vomit, War, Violence, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Death, Child death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug use, Blood, Addiction, Gun violence, and Alcohol

kiwichill's review

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 

---

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

eveningreverie's review against another edition

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

5.0

It's an extremely rare thing for a sequel to successfully build on themes explored in a text. For a series to not only have two sequels that do this extraordinarily well but also a prequel that does it arguably even better is almost unheard of. Nonetheless, Suzanne Collins has done just that with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is stupefyingly cruel, heartbreakingly passionate, and convinced of the innate power within every civilization to destroy itself. The prose is excellent. The split structure (before and during the games / after the games) is extraordinarily successful; it almost felt as if I were reading two deeply interconnected novellas. The ambiguity presented within is purposeful and immaculate. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Slavery, and War

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Abandonment, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Grief, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Dementia, Death of parent, Confinement, Classism, Gun violence, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Murder, and Toxic friendship

theuncannydani's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Gore, Slavery, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Body horror, Torture, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Vomit, Addiction, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug use and Terminal illness

puckeverlasting's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Collins does a wonderful job encouraging readers to sympathize with evil without softening the story or shying away from the morbidity of the material. This story feels complex in a way that surpasses the previous works in the series, although those have their own merits as well. Although character groundwork was laid, the ending still felt a bit abrupt. Very solid all around, from characterization to plot to writing style.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Xenophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Grief

All your typical Hunger Games TWs, but perhaps a touch more extensive