Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

66 reviews

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

annorabrady's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

When I heard the announcement of this book, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of following President Snow as a youth because I feared it might have taken the route of making him a sympathetic villain like many prequels following villains do. I was pleasantly surprised that the story didn't go that direction. However, it made it hard for me to engage with his story. Most of my attention, instead, went to the stories of the characters around him. I almost wish it had been a story from the POV of a character who was close to him but wasn't him. Someone who could witness his growth into villainy without being the villain themselves. 

That isn't to say that Suzanne Collins did a bad job with this POV. It was really well done. I'm just not a fan of following someone grow into the level of villainy we see in the original books and wearing that growth like a badge of honor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Vomit, Violence, Death, War, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Suicide, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

smalljoys's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Animal death, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Suicide, and Grief

taelights's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Honestly I really loved this book. I liked learning more about Snow's story and getting to see how he developed from an annoying school boy into pure evil. I also liked seeing the state of Panem so soon after the war. 

I also enjoyed getting to learn how the hunger games operated in earlier years. How it was somehow even worse than in the OG trilogy and see how the foundations were laid for the format we already knew about. I was honestly shocked about the treatment of the tributes before and during the games many times. It was hard to read at times but it was worth it and gave me a lot to think about especially seeing as I often thought that the hunger games in the trilogy aren't that bad.

Can I just say though I'm so sad about Sejanus and want to fight Snow? I predicted really early on that he'd die so I saw it coming but I'm so sad about how it happened.

Also I do know that there is criticism about the ending but I don't share the same criticism. 

Personally I think there were hints that Coriolanus was getting annoyed with Lucy Gray and wasn't happy with her for multiple chapters before he decided to try to kill her. Plus with how he betrayed Sejanus and killed the mayor's daughter for his personal gain without a care, it didn't seem out of nowhere to me. Especially seeing as I personally never was convinced that Coriolanus fully loved Lucy Gray. To me it always read like he saw her more as something to possess rather than a living breathing girl with feelings. So personally I liked the ending and didn't think it was rushed and out of nowhere for him to turn on her. Especially for his own gain. 

The only thing is I wish I knew for sure what happened to Lucy Gray at the end but I am also satisfied not knowing because it parallels well with her ballad and you can kind of come up with whatever you wish so I can imagine whatever end I want for her and that will be my canon.

Anyways I loved this book and I really hope we get more books in the hunger games universe because I will literally read them all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Police brutality, Blood, Child abuse, War, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Cannibalism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Dementia

Mentions of sex work/prostitution that the character was forced into basically due to not having any other choice.

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

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, War, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Torture, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Stalking, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Medical content, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Medical trauma

raeb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Medical content, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Gore, Torture, and Dementia

lilybisliterate's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Toxic friendship, and Torture

Minor: Drug abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, and Drug use

mozimmerm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

It was so interesting to read the backstory to Snow and discover how he got where we find him in the Hunger Games series. I love a morally gray character. He was so charming, you almost want to cheer him on before you remember how he ends up. 

I loved all the references to the Hunger Games series, especially the songs 💕

Highly recommend if you love Hunger Games!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and War

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Dementia, and Drug use

shyleek's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

After loving the Hunger Games Trilogy and rereading them I thought for sure this would be a great addition, I simply could not love this. 

The writing seemed so much different from the other three books. It drug on with a lot of unnecessary detail. honestly for the amount we learned about Snow he probably could have had his own trilogy. 

It was so much darker than I thought it would be (and that's coming from someone who's main genre is dark, horror, thriller). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Death, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Addiction

Minor: Dementia