Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

41 reviews

jodean's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a book that knows what a prequel should do. There's too many unneeded pre- and sequels around lately and not enough original work, so I'd been skeptic
al of this one. But it's an exception. 
I don't think anything can compare to the original trilogy, but this book makes me look at it all in a new light. It answers questions I didn't think to ask. 
<Spoiler>Also, Sejanus deserved better and God I hope Lucy Gray made it somewhere better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Classism, Medical content, Confinement, and Alcohol

Moderate: War, Slavery, Addiction, Animal death, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Medical content, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Murder, Child death, and Violence

mattiedancer'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

4.5

Writing: 4.75⭐️/5 

As with much of Collins' writing, the book thrives on its visually stunning and well-described settings. What any artistry in her writing might have lacked, she made up for with the impact of the world. And, even with a few stumbly sections in her writing, much of it read cleanly and beautifully–an intriguing insight into a poisonous mind.

Characters: 4.75⭐️/5

A few characters felt a touch jarring, but otherwise, like the setting, the world came alive with the characters. The way in which we understand Corionalus’ thoughts and mental state without overly empathizing with his goals is stunning. The side characters felt explored in their relationship with Coriolanus, meaning the people he liked we knew the most about and the people he thought ill of, we also felt the toxicity of his opinions. 

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

While the plot overall is intriguing and fascinating to watch unfold (believe me, I was slackjawed at several moments), I did feel (SPOILERS HERE) that the resolution of his attempted escape with Lucy Gray was rushed and unclear. Had the book been written in first person, I would’ve accepted this section gleefully as a possible blip in our narration due to an unreliable narrator, but I would have loved more of this section to focus on his mind unravelling a bit slower – as well as Lucy Gray’s realization moving a bit slower – so we could understand this section fully. And, even though I loved all the symbolism that ties us to the original trilogy, the added details connecting Lucy Gray to Katniss’ rebellion and how personally it integrated into Corionalus’ life felt too on the nose. The moment in which Lucy uses the excuse of finding katniss (the plant) to leave him felt a bit too heavy-handed for the analogy that later Katniss (the person) will cause his undoing. The song, The Hanging Tree, being written for him by Lucy also felt too coincidental, especially when tied with his heavy hatred of the mockingjays around District 12 during his time there. I wish some of these tie-backs had been removed or made less vital to slowly grit on his nerves, rather than to so obviously connect him to Katniss. 

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of The Hunger Games trilogy

Content Warnings? 

• Death, murder, child death, parent death, illness, cannibalism, blood, injury, medical trauma, gore

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

I wish it had gone on a bit longer, but I was happy with the conclusion.

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Dementia, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Sexism

gildedspines's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Grief, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Gaslighting, War, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction and Abandonment

katymat18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I decided to re-read The Hunger Games trilogy before diving in to this one to get myself back into the mindset of the universe, and also just to orient myself. I’m glad I did because I feel like there are a lot of hints and callbacks - if you will - to the original trilogy. However as far as villain origin stories go this was a hard one to get through, I kept waiting for the inevitable iceberg that would tip Snow over into that vile, hated old man we know from the trilogy. Took awhile, but it’s such a deep dive into the inner psyche of Snow. Still not sure how I overall feel about it…

Would really love to know what happened to Lucy Gray in the end! I have my theories, and I think Collins left it to be ambiguous much like The Ballad of Lucy Gray is in the book. But I would just love some confirmation or an epilogue in her POV. I will say Lucy Gray’s influence over Snow does help to understand his gripes with District 12 and Katniss later on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: War, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Torture

Minor: Drug use and Addiction

cait's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Police brutality, Sexism, Slavery, Stalking, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Torture, and Toxic friendship

megannoelle's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Child death, Abandonment, Genocide, Violence, Death, Alcoholism, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

peso's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

I hate Snow so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Child death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Drug use

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, War, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, and Grief

thattheatrekid's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Loved this book! I still don’t feel sympathy for Snow; he’s still a sleazeball; but I do understand why he is how he is. His fundamental view of the world is just wrong which caused him to become the monster he was. A great read (did it in 1 night!) and I liked the glimpse of Capitol’s past and the early version of the Hunger Games. The plot moved well. However, sometimes the direction Snow went with some decisions or outlooks just didn’t make sense with the rest of the context. It felt more like Susanne was trying to get him to the spot of a believable villain than to weave a story where the progression to get there was natural. But! Overall loved it and would definitely read it again.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Cannibalism

Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and War

hr1245's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, and Death of parent