Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

235 reviews

marygg3's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

I don't know what I expected of this book, but it certainly excelled. 
It was thoroughly enjoyable seeing Coriolanus slowly becoming Snow (I loved that detail in the epilogue, btw). The way his mind works was truly fascinating.
Top notch villain origin story. Except he's not really the villain here, at least not yet, but he's certainly one of the most interesting anti-heroes I've had the pleasure of reading.
I'm certainly going to recommend this book to anyone who'll listen. Plus, Santino Fontana's narration was 'chef's kiss'. I'm going to remember his voice for a long time, I'm sure.
I'll be careful to remember too, though, that "Snow lands on top"...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Murder

am4man'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Drug use, Murder, Blood, Physical abuse, Classism, Child death, Drug abuse, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Torture

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, Murder, War, Child abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Addiction

wheelyautistic's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Brilliant story that had me hooked the entire time. I have never hated a main character as much as I have reading this but that's what makes it amazing. The character's we're amazing and so well explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, War, Hate crime, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Death of parent and Animal death

maevedora's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism

kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Suzanne Collins has done it again. Even knowing exactly how Snow turns out….it was still all too easy to be sucked into his POV. Which is exactly the point Collins is trying to make, I suppose. She inserted just enough little tidbits of questionable internal dialogue moments to keep me skeptical of his thought process and morality, but even with those moments I found myself wishing against all odds that he would make the "right" choices. That, combined with the truly nauseating cruelty of the Capitol was enough for me to eagerly await the eventual revolution. Collins’ pacing was near perfect imho, with perhaps a bit of slowness in the beginning as she set her tale up for its ultimate conclusion. And by the end, I found myself even wishing for more information about how Snow becomes President, how he eventually betrays Tigris, what happens to the Covey, etc.

Even as I was left longing to know what happened to Lucy Gray, I simultaneously was intrigued by the mystery of it all and how poetically it sets the stage for Katniss' introduction.

All in all, any critiques I have for the book pale in comparison to how thoroughly I enjoyed this foray into Snow's past. Hoping she continues to expand this world with perhaps a book on Hatmitch or even Joanna! We shall see!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Grief, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Cannibalism

middle_name_joy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Cannibalism, and Death

hailstorm3812's review

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.25

This book is super interesting. I pretty much read it just to see the movie but I am glad that I did. It is absolutely brutal with moments of kindness shining through. I also love how much they reference how close to us it is. It does a really good job of connecting you to the characters even when you can see where it is going. It has some truly haunting moments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and War

al3xa's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Bullying, Colonisation, Genocide, Abandonment, Deportation, and Emotional abuse

tiana_king's review

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.25

Remember how district 12 only had 2 winners in 74 years? Well here’s the one that wasn’t Haymitch. The author took on an intense task of creating a backstory for a despicable character and for the most part did well. I understand why Snow was the way he was and how the games really got fleshed out. You even come to know why he had such a passionate hatred for Katnis. I was however disappointed with how many opportunities the author missed with making connections to future characters. Maybe I’m cheesy in loving that stuff but she hardly hinted at anything. Not an essential read but a good one for the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction and War