Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

63 reviews

wheelyautistic's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

Brilliant story that had me hooked the entire time. I have never hated a main character as much as I have reading this but that's what makes it amazing. The character's we're amazing and so well explored.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

inkysplodge's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This book came out three years ago at the time of writing this review, and I read it almost immediately after it came out. It had been a while since I had consumed any Hunger Games-related media and I was just happy to be back in the universe, and I was a bit confused by what was going on. There seemed to be a romance between Coriolanus Snow and a girl from District 12 that I wasn't happy with at all and the plot was a bit all over the place, but I still gave it four stars for enjoyment.

Now it's three years later and I've re-read the entire trilogy as well as rewatched all of the movies before diving back into this one, in preparation for the new movie coming out, and I have a lot of new insights (also thanks to people on the internet talking about this book again). I think the most important takeaway is this: above all else, this book is a character study of Coriolanus Snow, a boy who has grown up by the idea that the Capitol is Good and the Districts are Bad, and that Bad people need to be controlled by Good people. In a sense, he resembles men who accept the patriarchy as unfaultable, and he acts like a 'Nice Guy' too.
 
*spoilers below*
From the very beginning of this book, it's very clear that Snow doesn't view people as anything other than tools. He doesn't have friends, he has allies. He doesn't connect with people, he keeps them on his side. Sejanus is the loudest example of this, where even after his death, he is useful to Snow because his parents are willing to give him money. But it also happens with Lucy Gray: first and foremost, keeping her alive is a way for Snow to get a step ahead in life.

There's a second layer to his relationship with Lucy Gray, though: possession. Throughout the entire story, Snow might think he's in love with her, but actually he wants to own her. She is his girl, he keeps repeating in his head. He gets incredibly angry at even the thought of her having a life outside of the Capitol, wants her to erase all the songs she wrote about Billy Taupe, and he feels like she owes him love because he saved her life (he has a similar thought about Sejanus, too: that he saved his life and therefore he owed him, even though Snow caused his death sentence).

Lucy Gray seems to reciprocate Coriolanus's love, as in: she kisses him back, flirts with him, even writes songs about him. But we also know about her that she flirts a lot with people as part of her job, to make them give the Covey more money. And we know that she's very clever. So it might all just be an act - which is confirmed at the end of the book, when she gets Snow alone, interrogates him, and then flees after he finds the weapons, leaving a snake to bite him. The flirting, the loving - it was all a ruse to get him to leave, one way or another. And Coriolanus notices that, and he gets very scary for a moment - like Jack Torrence or any other horror villain, he promises his victim that he's not going to hurt her when he inevitably will. Because if he can't have her, no one can (plus he's trying to save face, like he always has).

All of this is very subtle and I missed it upon my first read - what I thought was, that this book was a poorly done romance that I didn't quite root for, but now I know that all of it was intentional. Just like the other Hunger Games books had subtle emotional undertones that I didn't get the first time I read those. I think that just speaks to the craftmanship of Suzanne Collins.

I do still agree, though, that the plot is a little bit messy, especially towards the end. He gets shipped back to the Capitol and finds out that his stint as a Peacekeeper was just a summer job, then he has a conversation with Dr. Gaul about what the Hunger Games really mean, and then he has a conversation with Dean Highbottom that I think could've been explored more. In a way it makes sense that Snow wouldn't really care to ruminate on the things he said but I thought it was really interesting that in a way, Snow was filling his Dad's shoes by 'improving' the Hunger Games together with Dr. Gaul and I'd like to think about what he actually meant by 'like moths to a flame'. I feel like there's multiple interpretations there.
*end of spoilers*

Long story short, I think there is much more to this book than meets the eye. It's not one for the masses, I fear, but I respect that. I'm very excited to go see the movie this weekend and I hope it's just as good - although I fear that it won't be. This movie series doesn't have a history of portraying the subtleties of the books that well, instead focusing on the spectacle, which is very ironic if you think about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Slavery, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

booksandmarvel's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

natanbcpc's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

I feel like this gives us a better insight on Snow's mind.

Unlike the original trilogy, I got attached to very few characters since his point of view tends to go over most people. Although it does make sense, it makes for a less engaging story.

I think the ending was a bit too quick for my taste. In the attempt to portray him as the President Snow we know, I feel like he loses any little humanity that was given to him during the book.

Overall, I liked the book though and was happy to get back to the Hunger Games universe.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and War

sxndaze's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

She could fly around District 12 all she liked, but she and her mockingjays could never harm him again.

coriolanus is an interesting character and his perspective was fun to explore. i didn’t hate him all the time, but the last third made him insufferable. the amount of character names tho….jesus

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and War

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement, Dementia, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism

inkfish's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

katattack345's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This book had me hooked from the get go as did the original trilogy. I went into it not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. 

It is far more darker than the original trilogy but I still loved every page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Torture, Dementia, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

jo_d's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

Absolutely stunningly well written. The subtle changes in Snow throughout the book while simulatniously maintaining consistancy in character and decision making was a jarring insight to what is (in my opinion) among the most interesting villains in YA. The setting for the book, the 10th Hunger Games, rehighlights what the movies did wonders in erasing: that the games are far from glamerous, and are instead violent indicators of what people, given too much power, are willing to do to others, espeically those they deam inferior. Absolutley would recommend, it was thought-provoking, adgitating, but I found myself unable to stop reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and War

Moderate: Drug use and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual violence and Trafficking