Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

21 reviews

luna_is_superior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Coryo is a HUGE unreliable narrator, how'd he make me love him until like the last chapter????

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Violence, War, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Vomit

kryfrh's review against another edition

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Gore, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Classism, and Addiction

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Infidelity

kdailyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Torture, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Violence, Child death, Blood, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Classism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cannibalism, and Addiction

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Toxic friendship, War, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Medical trauma, Bullying, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Blood, and Vomit

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

anneroza's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Classism, Drug use, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, War, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Gore, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury

chrisljm's review

challenging dark tense 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

3.0

528 pages of Snow being a loser.

Going to expand on my review for the sake of explaining that I don't dislike this book. I just dislike losers. I liked that Suzanne Collins gave us a prequel and gave background to the games and how it essentially all started, but I just wasn't too invested in the story because I never cared to learn more about Snow's life.

I think it's fair that other readers didn't enjoy this book because it does get a bit long and the last third does drag, but I think the people who see this book as an attempt to sympathize Snow as a villain just doesn't understand Suzanne Collins or what she wrote. We see how Snow had a tough childhood, being poor and living through war, but he is very much still cruel and narcissistic. There is in no way for this book to be taken as an attempt to get you on Snow's side. 

While I personally didn't give a fuck about Snow's backstory, I think this is worth reading if you want insight on how the modern version of the games came to be. In my opinion it's less about Snow and more of an origin story to the Panem we see in The Hunger Games trilogy, and I think the book is more enjoyable if you read it with this in mind. 

I also want to say that the dislike this book gets makes me firm on my stance in hating when people ask for more books on the other Hunger Game years. We have all we need to know from the trilogy. It's unnecessary and just another way for people to thoughtlessly consume media. The Hunger Games portion of this book was very uncomfortable to read, especially since I already sat through the cruelty of the games twice for the trilogy. If we were to read anymore of the games, it would just become cruelty for entertainment, which literally goes against the theme of the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Addiction, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Medical content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Gore, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Chronic illness

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Suicidal thoughts

jessicaludden's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? Yes

4.5

“The show’s not over until the mockingjay sings.”

I know a lot of people hate this book but I loved it a lot. Snow is such an evil character and it was so interesting to see him develop from a poor young Capitol boy in the aftermath of the war to a power seeking future tyrant. By no means are you rooting for him, but you do start to understand him and it was so intriguing to read from his perspective.

I also thought the commentary on humanity and the social contract was super interesting. It played with this idea of humans being inherently good or evil. Snow consciously made decisions for his own benefit and self-preservation and it was so interesting to hear his thought process and all the justifications he made for himself. I loved how it tied into the hunger games and the decisions that were made to further develop them.

I really liked seeing this early version of the hunger games and how it compares to the hunger games of the future we know. Getting to see it develop from simple games to the spectacle that it is in the trilogy really emphasizes how cruel Snow is as a leader. The hunger games became a never ending punishment for the citizens of Panem and the victors themselves because of him.

I especially liked how Snow’s supposed “love” for Lucy Gray wasn’t even enough to deter his desire for power and status and you’ve gotta love to hate Lucy’s ending. She’s a mystery even in death. Overall, I loved seeing this world in a new way and I can’t wait for the movie.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Infidelity, Murder, Death of parent, Classism, and Death

ilariasbizzera's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Addiction, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, and Death

tinybluepixel's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Gore, Addiction, Classism, Physical abuse, Death, War, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: War, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Vomit

Minor: Infidelity