Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

63 reviews

studydniowka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Bardzo dobra młodzieżowa (i nie tylko) dystopia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Grief, Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence

theliterarymess's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Songbirds and Snakes makes for a pretty good prequel to the Hunger Games and provides a good insight into the rise of President Snow, I just found that the pacing could be really awkward at times and Coriolanus’ descent into cruelty began steady but then it was like his entire character changed all too fast,

especially when he turns on Lucy Gray

It was a slow read for me as I didn’t find Lucy Gray as likeable as she’s meant to be until about 75% through. The nods to the books were nice to spot but it’s been so long since I read them that the interest just wasn’t really there

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, and Violence

Moderate: Violence and Slavery

Minor: Gaslighting

emsprobablyreading's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I love love love this book. A wonderful prequel to the dystopian series that defined my adolescence. Suzanne Collins has done an excellent job of giving her readers a look at how the Hunger Games from Katniss' time came to be as well as a trip inside the mind of her greatest adversary, President Snow. The callbacks to the original series are wonderfully crafted, and I especially love how Lucy Gray is both her own character and written is such a way to set up Katniss as the perfect ghost of Snow's past, come to make him pay for his sins. I could write an essay on the implications of this book, but instead I leave you with this: if what you enjoyed about the Hunger Games trilogy was the commentary on war, power, control, privilege, rebellion, and what it means to love one another, then read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Medical content, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement and Vomit

laineydunne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and War

aligmich's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I didn’t know what I’d think about this going in, but I did find that it was an effective, and engaging story with some highly complex characters. It also gave a lot of context into the Games themselves, which I was super interested by. 

For a 500+ page book, it wrapped up a little too fast for my tastes, with all the big climactic elements happening in the last 40 pages. I feel it needed more time to breathe, and for the character turns to be truly explored, but I was overall still satisfied, and would recommend if you’re a fan of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Police brutality, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

sunsorbit's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Confinement, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Slavery

Minor: Body horror, Death of parent, War, Cursing, Police brutality, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, and Cannibalism

jojo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Grief, and Slavery

emfass's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cannibalism, Dementia, Eating disorder, Torture, and Vomit

Main character is food insecure for the first part of the book; mother died in childbirth

hannahmayhere's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, War, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Cannibalism

ida05's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent