Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

229 reviews

hazle_363's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Such a good exploration of snow and Lucy gray, the capitol vs districts and loyalty

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Colonisation, Grief, Classism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

joselyn_wren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cannibalism, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Body horror, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Vomit, Chronic illness, and Gun violence

decie's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Violence, Confinement, Classism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: War and Cannibalism

Minor: Abandonment and Vomit

aliengirlreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Police brutality, Child death, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Addiction, War, Medical content, Classism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Death of parent, Dementia, Vomit, and Blood

neverlandingonabook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Dude omg this book was insaneeeee. I didn’t want to put it down, and every day when I woke up I was excited to read and it felt so good to really get out of my reading slump. It felt like back when I was little and woke up every morning excited to read. I love and admire Lucy Gray, who knew when she was in trouble and defended herself by running away and was her own hero. I also admire Tigris, who was so confident that Snow was good and who was so pure. Definitely a comfort character. This book made me forget I was reading.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cannibalism, War, Vomit, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

sam_gartley91's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-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

I love this book and how it connects and explains things that lead to things happening in the original trilogy. Such wonderful descriptive writing! You both kind of feel for Snow but also really hate him. And you ultimately know where he ends up. But you still have that hope that he might change, that the circumstances might change him, that Lucy might change him!! He is such a narcissist but also blame the capital and his upbringing for making him this way. I’m glad he ultimately didn’t end up with Lucy because although he may have felt like he loved her, he just wanted control. Control so thus power over things was his main love and objective and motivator. And although we know he becomes the big bad you see him against the back drop of their poverty and the horrible adults in the school that make him look almost nice. There were definitely a lot of topics and discussion a that are brought up in this work of fiction that we as individuals and as a society really need to look in the mirror at and reflect on how they are similar to our current situations. This book at time reminds me 1984 with the constant war for the government to have control over the people. Definitely will ruminate on this one for a bit. I feel for Sajamus’s whole story line because he actively fought against it all and sadly believed Snow was his friend which contributed to his end… Felt for Tigeress too. Hoped she got a better life and learned beyond her situation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cannibalism, Blood, Gun violence, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

lovosii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, War, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Bullying, Cannibalism, and Drug use

lilawsahar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

First off, I would like to state that I wrote a letter to Susanne Collins in 2009/2010 about writing another book, so I’m going to be delulu and say I inspired this book 13 years later haha. 

Wow, what a crazy backstory for Snow.

I can’t believe that Snows family was directly responsible for the start of the hunger games/the development of what the hunger games became. For him to have the experience of how horrid the games were, by being placed inside of them, and he still threw kids in there time and time again shows how truely horrid he is.  Also him to fall in love with his victor and still have the ruthlessness to kill her even though she had survived that traumatic event just shows how he never cared for anyone but himself.

Do not read this book if you think it’ll be a light read. It is not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Grief, Child abuse, and Torture

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

A fascinating look into Snow’s journey to being the tyrant we know from the original trilogy, the red flags were there from the beginning. I am choosing to believe

that Lucy Gray survived and escaped into the woods and doesn’t just live on through her songs.

The pacing was a little off sometimes but overall exciting and gripping. Suzanne Collins is a genius. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, War, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Animal death, Vomit, Sexism, Kidnapping, Bullying, Medical trauma, Body horror, Grief, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, and Infidelity

loveisabird's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

i saw the movie first and while there’s much more in the book that fills the story out much better, there’s definitely some touches/changes from the movie i missed desperately here. coriolanus ripping out his own stitches. tigris’ last line about his father. YOU CAN KISS MY ASS!!!!!

but between the book and the movie together i think i’m even more taken in by this era of THG storyline than the original trilogy. don’t get me wrong i love the story of the final rebellion. but i also just adore worldbuilding and seeing the world of panem getting built, setting up the eventual rebellion, at this earlier point is entrancing to me. the way it recontextualizes things from the original trilogy that are already so provocative… the mockingjay, the hanging tree, the unnamed first district 12 victor, the traditions and spectacle of the hunger games… delicious. 

also like. as much as i hate the bitch coriolanus was a more compelling narrator. then again maybe if katniss’ books weren’t in fucking first person i’d be more into her narration and inner world also. 

finally lucy gray baird is the best character suzanne collins ever created and if you ask me she lived a long life in the woods. maybe not a happy one. but she survived that motherfucker i know it in my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Child death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Torture

Minor: Medical content, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts