Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

83 reviews

sarahflanders's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, War, Gore, and Toxic relationship

ericaburns1's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Classism

Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, War, Alcoholism, and Cursing

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

megannoelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Child death, Abandonment, Genocide, Violence, Death, Alcoholism, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

lemonysquish's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I liked it? But the end was so rushed and overly ambiguous. We know Snow is bad and he was never a good guy..

but that was a steep drop off in character development in the last ten pages

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Torture, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, War, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

smasson13's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense 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

4.5

This book was a wild ride. While I still prefer the original series, this novel was full of twists! 

At first I was confused as why it didn't end after act 2, and the start of act 3 felt like it was dragging on but not leading anywhere...but the end threw me. I think Suzanne Collins does a lovely jobs of trying to convince you of some sort of compassion in Coriolanus while he is struggling in the Capitol. Yet, by act 3, my hatred was renewed.

I would love to read more about the development of the early Hunger Games, I thought this was a really interesting perspective to take for a prequel novel. 

As well, I know critics seemed not to enjoy the folk songs throughout the book, but I think they lend nicely to the story telling as well as the history of the area of the USA that District 12 apparently occupies. 

Overall, it was a huge novel to get through, but never felt like a struggle. The tension and anticipation was high throughout, though at times frustrating. Definitely recommend it for those who have read the original series, it did not take away from what has already been created. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Confinement, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Death of parent

bookthief's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a very interesting book. It was completely different to how I imagined it to be before I read it. I thought it was mainly going to be based around Coriolanus being a mentor but that was only a small portion of the book. 
The first half of the book was a slow pace with each chapter ending in a cliff hanger and the second half got considerably intense and the story changed.
Suzanne Collins originally made us feel sorry for Snow as he was poor and had no parents, but by the end of the book you could see his development from being poor and empathetic to controlling and manipulative. 

Theories :
Could Lucy Gray be Katniss’ grandmother?
Could it be that Katniss’ dad was Lucy Gray’s son and she taught him the Hanging tree song and who taught that to Katniss?
Is Lucy Gray dead or did she run away or escaped to those who she claimed to be hiding in the woods?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcohol, Animal death, War, Death, Grief, and Alcoholism

whatisjordyreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

!!!!!!!
coriolanus snow is many things, and being a narcissist self-obsessed lil bitch is mostly why.

i will tell everyone always: Suzanne Collins knows EXACTLY what she's doing when she chooses names for people and places and the technology of the world of Panem. she's a genius fr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Classism, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Child death, Police brutality, War, and Death

Moderate: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Addiction, and Alcoholism

emsprobablyreading's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I love love love this book. A wonderful prequel to the dystopian series that defined my adolescence. Suzanne Collins has done an excellent job of giving her readers a look at how the Hunger Games from Katniss' time came to be as well as a trip inside the mind of her greatest adversary, President Snow. The callbacks to the original series are wonderfully crafted, and I especially love how Lucy Gray is both her own character and written is such a way to set up Katniss as the perfect ghost of Snow's past, come to make him pay for his sins. I could write an essay on the implications of this book, but instead I leave you with this: if what you enjoyed about the Hunger Games trilogy was the commentary on war, power, control, privilege, rebellion, and what it means to love one another, then read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, War, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Medical content, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement and Vomit

laineydunne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Hate crime, and War