Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

453 reviews

samantha_griff's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, follows an 18 year old Coriolanus Snow in the 10th year of the Hunger Games.

While the Coriolanus Snow that we know in the original trilogy is a very hateable character, I do love his character arc in TBOSAS as he battles the fine line between good and evil. Coriolanus's inner monologue is extremely important in understanding his worldview, actions and thoughts that dictate where he stands between good and evil. His parents, despite being dead, play a significant role in this mental battle. Suzanne Collins brilliantly acknowledges the moment where Coriolanus crosses that line,

even changing the way she refers to him between the novel's final chapter and the epilogue.

It's fascinating to see who Coriolanus will betray and why/how in order to attain the power and control over others he hungers for. A particular character death towards the end of the novel caused me to stop reading and consider every possible way his death, had it not happened or happened in a different manner, would have altered the outcome of Coriolanus's life. 

TBOSAS explores the earliest versions of the Hunger Games, which vary significantly from the spectacle we know of in the main trilogy.

The 10th Hunger Games is a very basic "fight to the death" concept that does not garner much interest from Capitol citizens, but Coriolanus's contributions in the lead up to the Games start shaping the Hunger Games into what it becomes by the 74th Games. We also read of additional contributions Snow makes to the 11th Games in the novel's epilogue, so by the end we are aware that he is essentially responsible for what the Games become.

The Easter eggs from the Hunger Games trilogy that are mentioned in TBOSAS create a direct link between them, reminding the reader constantly that this is a prequel novel. It leaves us speculating over potential links between characters and events, and filling the gaps with potential storylines that occur in the 64 years between TBOSAS and The Hunger Games. 

TBOSAS is a character driven novel, and Suzanne Collins has written every character arc so brilliantly that they are actually relevant to how the story continues to play out in the main Hunger Games trilogy. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Trafficking

adrilynn21's review

dark sad 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and War

random_being's review

adventurous challenging hopeful 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, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Cannibalism

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

---

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

mandoriin's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.75

coriolanus snow is such an incel 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Physical abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent

lua_pires's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Violence, Blood, Death, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Cannibalism

elenabluenette's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Grief, Police brutality, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Dementia, and Drug abuse

mle11's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Gun violence, War, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abandonment, Dementia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

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

---

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

theirgracegrace's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

Quite literally judging a book by its cover, I had originally written off this one as a cash grab by Collins due the success of The Hunger Games. I have never been so pleased to be proven wrong in my life.

The story follows a tense summer in the life of Coriolanus Snow, the tyrannical president that we meet in the main trilogy sixty-odd years later. He is eighteen years old and slated to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, a Covey girl living in District 12. He develops an infatuation with her early on, and much of the book is given over to how he tries to keep her safe before and after the 10th Hunger Games. 

The characterization of Coriolanus is incredibly moving, showing how the idealistic teen has his critiques of and subtle attacks on the Capitol used against him and against Lucy Gray. It crushes his spirit, and turns him into the monster who betrays everyone and trusts no one that we later see. Nostalgic nods exist to the main series are plentiful, as it appears that the young Coriolanus was instrumental in the implementation of much of the horror of the Games. 

All-in-all, a wonderful (if stressful!) book that played with my expectations just as cleanly as the Games themselves. I would heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the main series and wants to hear a tale of how it started!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Bullying

Minor: Excrement and Infidelity

Two of the tributes contract rabies and it is described in detail when they suddenly show symptoms in the arena. Snakes (including snake attacks, one of which is fatal) are common in the book, as the title suggests. There are two hangings of criminals that occur in the book in the latter portion