Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Balada șerpilor și a păsărilor cântătoare by Suzanne Collins

260 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This books starts on July 4th, so what a fitting day to finish it! I loved The Hunger Games series when I first read it, devouring each book within just a couple of hours. Still, for some reason, I wasn’t all that interested when I heard about this prequel. Who wants to read about the man we know becomes the ultimate villain? Turns out, I do.

Even if I hadn’t known the future of Coriolanus Snow, I would’ve hated him. From the very first page, he is vain, selfish, and entitled. There are plenty of new characters to love and root for in this book, but never once did I find myself rooting for him. Collins does an incredible job of giving us a look into the mind of a narcissist. 

Like the other Hunger Games books, this one is easy to binge. Even when there’s not a lot of action on-page, it spurs you forward and you’ll look back and wonder how you just blew through 200 pages at a time without realizing it. I’m glad I decided to read it, and I’m looking forward to the next prequel she has planned!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

Honestly, this is probably my favorite Hunger Games book yet. I loved the world-building and connections to the previous books, and the character depth of all the characters was amazing. Everything about it is so creative and I was continuously shocked by the genius ideas of the Author. Definitely worth reading (and watching the movie)! 

The only thing I didn’t like was that you were never super attached to the characters because you generally know where they’re going to end up (could also be a result of watching the movie first though).

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

oceanbluetay'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, and Cannibalism

benegesserwitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny, Slavery, Dementia, and Religious bigotry

martysaurus27's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I had such high hopes, but this turned into a hate-read almost instantly. This was a premise that asked so many good questions about the world of the Hunger Games and how they came to be in the aftermath of The War, and instead it seems the only questions the author asked were, "Damnit, my draft is due WHEN?" and "This is going to be made into a movie regardless, right?" 

I remember the original trilogy fondly - granted, I was a kid with low literary expectations - but the writing in TBoSaS was just too sloppy to get past. Endless lazy exposition ("He buttoned his shirt - and it reminded him of [paragraphs of lore]"), an eye-rolling circus of one-dimensional characters (including the insufferably goofy Not Like Other Girls™️ female protagonist who is essentially a poor, Appalachian Jessica Day with snakes her pockets), an implausible romance ramrodded into the plot seemingly against its will, and a plot that consistently did just about the least interesting thing possible with every opportunity... Snow might land on top, but this book sure doesn't.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

I’m usually a big believer in reading the book before watching the movie adaptation, but this was a rare exception. I finally gave in and watched the movie on a long flight, but I actually ended up being grateful that I’d watched the movie first. After watching the film adaptation and then reading the book only a couple of weeks later, there were many moments when I realized that certain elements of the original book had been altered or even completely omitted from the movie version. Had I read the book when it first came out and then watched the movie later, I doubt I would have recognized as many of the differences. I personally enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between the original source material and the film adaptation, which also kept me actively engaged in the storyline and provided a sense of urgency to discover what might happen next every time I had to set the book aside. Certain elements of the book were definitely relatively dark and violently gruesome, which explains why some events were modified or removed in the film version, but this intense backstory helps to provide context for the seemingly heartless President Snow that later appears in The Hunger Games. I found the storyline to be extremely intriguing and enjoyed the dynamics between the various characters. I would highly recommend this book, especially to people who grew up loving the original Hunger Games series.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, War, and Classism

hannahbenje's review against another edition

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

5.0

I thought this book was incredible! I know many people didn't like the slightly more philosophical nature of it, but it really helped build up Coriolanus's character well. This is the perfect setup prequel for the Hunger Games.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Classism

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

I loved the hunger games trilogy, but this book about Snow, just wasn’t it for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well written and everything; but it’s just Snows character, we all know he’s a villain, but he spends the first 75% of the book pretending to be the good guy, & it just doesn’t fit him, it was driving me crazy! The book started out trying to paint him as a good guy. He’s not! Like Snow in this book doesn’t understand why they keep doing the hunger games, yet he’s the biggest supporter in the trilogy!! & he’s not a fan of the manipulations that come from those in power; but in the trilogy he’s the KING of manipulations. We’re supposed to believe it’s the same character, but it doesn’t feel like it, his personality is so diff. I love a good villain origin story, but this one seemed so far fetched. Atleast until the last quarter of the book where he finally started showing his true colors & became the heartless villain. 
Maybe it’s just me cause Snow was never a villain I loved to hate. He was always on par with characters like Umbridge from Harry Potter. They don’t deserve redemption, & that’s what this book seemed to try to convey for most of the book atleast. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alexasolis98's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

Reading about the early Hunger Games and how future systems were developed and why was interesting to say the least. Some arguments that were made in this book are the same arguments that are made today which was a bit unsettling. How Snow and the Capitol justified their cruel actions was disgusting. Suzanne Collins did a good job in giving us Snow's backstory. Loved Tigris, she constantly tries to see the best in Snow and tries to keep him on the right path. The few issues I had were that the story dragged at times, Sejanus was an idiot and there was to many names to keep up with in the first half of the book. Thank goodness list of mentors and tributes was included. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol