Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

18 reviews

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Death, Alcohol, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Deportation, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Body horror, Child death, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gore, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, and War

rhiannonhoward's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Dementia, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

lovosii's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, War, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Bullying, Cannibalism, and Drug use

emilywemily6's review

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

captaindaz's review

emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.25

It took about 200 pages for the actual Hunger Games to start. Then the the rest of the book kind of raced to the finish line to end the story. Still a very well written story.

Coriolanus Snow can choke on himself and all my homies hate him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Violence, War, and Child death

Moderate: Eating disorder, Xenophobia, and Slavery

Minor: Animal cruelty and Vomit

mconroy9137's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Gore, Body horror, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Child death, Medical content, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Deportation, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Dementia, Animal death, Alcohol, Misogyny, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Colonisation, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Cannibalism

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Cursing, Excrement, Miscarriage, and Eating disorder

kelseyr713's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Suzanne Collins knows how to write a compelling story! These 500+ pages flew by and I couldn't put the book down. Brought me back to devouring the original trilogy, which I think I'm about to again.

It is not fun to be inside Snow's head for this long, but it is enlightening. The plot also manages to be compelling despite knowing the foregone conclusion. Seeing an early version of the Hunger Games without all the technology that the later ones will have is interesting too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Child death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Violence, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Vomit, Addiction, and Drug use

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Cannibalism

katelynnelawson's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Put off reading this because I thought it wouldn’t live up to the original trilogy… but just like all the books in the original trilogy, I read it in under 48 hours. Depressing but knew that going in and can’t wait to see the movie. I love that I both hated the villain and saw the good in him and wanted him to grow and change. The reader knows he won’t (and can’t as this is a prequel) but the author still makes you long for it and believe it could happen if he’d just made better choices and listened to that tiny little conscience inside. But everyone is a victim in war, even perpetrators, and grifters are always gonna grift.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Body horror, Classism, Child death, Murder, Gun violence, Torture, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Cannibalism

sedwards1992's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, War, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Cannibalism

olliepopop's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

I found this novel to be an amazing addition to Hunger Games lore. First, I enjoyed learning about the behind-the-scenes of the games so much since it helped me imagine Haymitch and the other mentors and what power or influence they could've tried to wield to help their tributes in the games, and the limitations of their influence too.

I also really appreciated getting to see Snow's perspective and the mindset of the Capitol elite (and eventually people) that would've contributed to the longevity of the Hunger Games.

I heard some people felt that reading Snow's perspective and the romance made him too sympathetic, but honestly, I felt it truly showed his character and how he could be capable of rising to such complete and vicous power. I started marking every time he talked about "his girl" who of course loved him, was devoted to him, and would only ever think about him while trying to fight for her life in the arena. Sure. 

I was shocked when it was revealed Lucy Gray did actually love him at all and wasn't just playing him, but that just further showed the sinister nature of his lying, that she could think he did things for her when it was really just to save his own reputation, future, or life every time. The last chapter felt the perfect culmination and reveal of Snow's true nature even while he was still making himself sick lying to himself.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and think it showed what it wanted to incredibly well!

Part 1: 4 ⭐️
Part 2: 4.25 ⭐️
Part 3: 5 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Child death, War, Body horror, Classism, and Confinement

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Drug use, and Sexual violence