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lastcomment314's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
krisawesome's review against another edition
3.5
Okay, calling younger Coriolanus Snow "unsympathetic" isn't entirely fair, as his life wasn't a complete cakewalk and he has a couple of decent qualities, but his selfishness and arrogance vastly overshadow those. Which I feel is mostly the point; making the younger Snow a total sweetheart would make for a much less realistic character arc, given what we know of the older Snow in the original The Hunger Games trilogy. So sure, the Snow in this book is a terrible person, but as least I found him a relatively interesting terrible person.
It does help that not all of the characters are terrible people, and Collins did a great job writing characters such as Lucy Gray and Sejanus as well.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a character study first, a world/cultural study second. In many ways Capitol and District 12 and the actual games were quite different 64 years before The Hunger Games, but here you can see how they would develop into what we see in Katniss' time. That's right up my alley, but I can see how a more plot-oriented reader might not enjoy it as much.
Speaking of the plot, it's fine but the pacing is inconsistent and bit odd in the last third.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Death of parent
jojo_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Slavery, and Grief
rae42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Vomit
Kinda hate that it's humanising characters which later do horrible things in the original trilogywilamina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So in conclusion, the ballad of songbirds and snakes was annoying average, with few redeeming factors to warrant it a slightly higher grade, but without it's association with the hunger games, it would probably never have been shelved.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
emfass's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Minor: Eating disorder, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, and Cannibalism
Main character is food insecure for the first part of the book; mother died in childbirththebibliobibuli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Dementia
mscalls's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
sachikoriddle's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Torture, Vomit, Dementia, and Cannibalism
trollhamn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Medical content and Dementia