Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

834 reviews

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

nia_readsalot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, War, Drug use, Blood, Addiction, and Violence

micallab's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

omgsynecdoche's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Violence, War, Murder, Child death, and Death

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Classism, and Death

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

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

keayra_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, Vomit, War, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Death of parent

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

This book was amazing. I went into this a bit worried that it was going to be another tragic villain backstory, and I am happy to report that, while Snow does experience hardship and struggle, that is not really what this is. This book follows 18 year old Snow as a mentor in the 10th Hunger Games, and it details the very early beginnings of his rise to power. I thought it handled his character in a really interesting way, by setting him up to be a sympathetic character but showing how, despite struggling in many things, he is not a good person. He is still prejudiced and controlling, even when responding to hardship or experiencing romance and "friendship." I thought it was an interesting take on his character, and a super complex and nuanced one as well. As I was reading, I would almost feel bad for him, but then he would say/think/do something that reminded me of what he's going to do and that he's going to do it for completely selfish reasons. The dynamic between him and Lucy Gray was so interesting to explore, as was the dynamic between him and Sejanus. Lucy Gray was also a highlight of this book for me. She was such a great character to learn about, and the contrast set up between her and Snow was pretty cool to me. I found her to interesting, because at first she seems a bit weird, but as you get to know her and learn about her life and her past, you get to understand her in a very deep way. Something else I was worried about, that the main female character would be too similar to Katniss, since Katniss is such an interesting and engaging character, but I really shouldn't have doubted Suzanne Collins. Lucy Gray is so different from Katniss, yet there are so many connections between them that were so well done. Sejanus was another highlight for me. He had a unique and interesting story, and though he as a person was sometimes seen as annoying, he was a very good person in his heart, and I couldn't help but love him. He serves to represent almost the ideal of goodness to contrast with Snow and other Capitol citizens, and I thought it was well done. There are some truly horrifying moments in this book, and Suzanne Collins did not shy away from it at all. It was horrific but incredible. Overall, I loved this book, and I am so glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, War, and Suicidal thoughts

neurospicy_mama'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Suicide

Minor: War and Cannibalism

lemoneverdeen's review against another edition

emotional fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism