Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

81 reviews

njthk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Trafficking and Sexual violence

hanhantap's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I remember first reading Mockingjay when I was 14 and being utterly disappointed. The Hunger Games with no games, just political discourse, resistance, and trauma? How boring. Especially as a follow-up to one of the best sequels of all time. 

However, now my frontal cortex is fully developed and I have witnessed and participated in multiple resistance movements in the past 13 years — not to mention the past 60 days 🍉 — I feel like I can appreciate what Suzanne Collins was saying in and doing with this novel. When a symbol of a resistance movement (Katniss as the Mockingjay) becomes expendable or co-opted to repeat the evils of the past, there are moral obligations to rise against them. 

Imagine explaining that to a young Hannah and expect her to understand them at a deeper level than "Why did Katniss have to start a family at the end?"

Not understanding her survival, her trauma, and her hard fought ending to even remind herself to be happy in moments of great despair. For Katniss, starting a family was not a priority. Her only priority was to survive and now she had two — three counting Peeta — reasons to keep surviving even in the hardest of days. A life without choices became a life with one choice: the choice of companionship and finding the peace she never had. 

Her children, the other children of the districts, and the children of the Capitol will never experience the horrors that generations past will. The suffering of the present to provide for the future. It's a bittersweet ending that I finally understand.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Body horror, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

matidareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This wasn’t the best book in the series but a great way to end Katniss’s journey of being a rebel that fought for the freedom of her people. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Alcoholism, and Blood

kendra_taylors_version's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Alcoholism, Child death, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Drug use, Classism, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Confinement, Death of parent, War, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

willow_the_wisp's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Blood, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

danicam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

raisinreads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Self harm, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Body horror, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

michaelholdenismyhusbandtyvm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Alcohol, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gun violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Kidnapping, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

eveningreverie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I feel completely comfortable calling The Hunger Games, and its accompanying sequels, modern classics. The ease with which Suzanne Collins is able to directly comment on consistent, overarching themes while simultaneously weaving an immensely thrilling story is captivating. Each decision heightens the tension without a moment to breathe until the end of the final book. It's beautiful. It's horrifying. It's a hyperbolic expression of capitalist subjugation and the necessary ways moral panic can be coopted to change ingrained power systems. It even has fairly successful film translations—something few and far between. It's The Hunger Games, and for all its references, it is now a permanent part of American literary canon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery

kelly_e's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games, #3
Genre: YA Dystopian
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: August 24, 2010

T H R E E • W O R D S

Dark • Haunting • Contemplative

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Every now and then I decide to pick up a YA novel for a quick, palette cleanser and when the mood stuck this time I decided to close out The Hunger Games series with Mockingjay. I didn't quite know what to expect heading into the final book of the trilogy and since I am reading these years after all of the hype, I hadn't really seen any reviews.

My main takeaway after finishing was a feeling of unsatisfaction. Throughout books one and two there is a forward progression of characters development, particularly when it comes to Katniss. However, in book three there was a sense of stagnation, which seemed odd and just disappointing. There isn't a whole lot of hope, rather this is filled with doom and gloom. I understand the reason behind all of this, but at the end of the day I'd have been okay with just one book.

Suzanne Collins has certainly created something worth reading with this trilogy. However, Mockingjay is hands down my least favourite. It felt drawn out, at times with not much going on, yet somehow the ending was rushed. It just didn't make sense to me.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the series
• young readers

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart."

"Some walks you have to take alone."

"Closing my eyes doesn't help. Fire burns brighter in the darkness." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Violence, Gore, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Body horror, Ableism, Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Vomit

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Animal death, and Pregnancy