Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

232 reviews

wcndereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It was sick (negative) knowing Snow's thoughts as he indulged into his love for power.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Drug use, Suicide, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Classism, Blood, and Torture

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a reread for me because of the movie that just came out. I absolutely loved this book and enjoyed reading the entire thing. It is so fascinating to see Panem before the Hunger Games trilogy and see glimpses at both the world before and the trajectory set in motion because of Snow’s involvement in the games. The last 50 or so pages took quite the turn, and while I like the ambiguous ending, I feel like Snow and Lucy Gray’s feelings took a really quick nosedive that wasn’t quite as developed. I wish Lucy Gray had a little bit more depth, and I think that depth would have helped me understand her choices at the very end a little better since it seemed like Corio’s perception of her was distorted in the woods. Overall, this books makes me want so much more in this world!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gore, Gaslighting, Animal death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content, War, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Eating disorder and Cursing

lola218_'s review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, War, Child death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Drug use, and Drug abuse

littleflowerly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: War

leanna_lewis's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

5.0

Perfect book. No notes. Heartbreaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Classism

c8ln18's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

I’ve been a long time fan of the Hunger Games series. It was an interesting turn getting into the mind of Snow. Suzanne Collins does a fantastic job balancing the duality of man and decisions in this novel. I watched the movie first and I’m glad I did, because I got to see how the songs sounded, and also visualize the book better. I enjoyed seeing how it differed. This book did get a bit slow for me occasionally, which is why it’s not quite a 5 star. Occasionally because I knew the ending, considered putting it down. However, I’m glad I kept on though! Sejanus deserves the world. I loved the callbacks to the original series and seeing how everything got started. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Police brutality

Moderate: War

Minor: Cannibalism

magsbord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Deportation, Grief, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Classism, War, Violence, Medical content, Child death, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Torture, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

nandakandabooks's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Not a special bad or good book.
Solid historic backstory and circumstances influencing the  creation of the hunger games and Mr. Snow we know were.
Overall themes is definitely more toxic friend-/relationships and the romance.
The actual hunger games were quite short and POV is Mr. Snow. 
A lot of relationships are not really fleshed out and I would have loved seeing more details here and a less "sudden" development of certain relationships. 

Would recommened for fans who want to spend more time/revisit this setting. But it was not a pageturner.
The german audio book was well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use, War, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism

stsgplaylist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

snow you are going to HELL. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, and Drug use

Minor: War, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

toriwatson'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Murder, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Cannibalism