Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

210 reviews

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

I loved the hunger games trilogy, but this book about Snow, just wasn’t it for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s well written and everything; but it’s just Snows character, we all know he’s a villain, but he spends the first 75% of the book pretending to be the good guy, & it just doesn’t fit him, it was driving me crazy! The book started out trying to paint him as a good guy. He’s not! Like Snow in this book doesn’t understand why they keep doing the hunger games, yet he’s the biggest supporter in the trilogy!! & he’s not a fan of the manipulations that come from those in power; but in the trilogy he’s the KING of manipulations. We’re supposed to believe it’s the same character, but it doesn’t feel like it, his personality is so diff. I love a good villain origin story, but this one seemed so far fetched. Atleast until the last quarter of the book where he finally started showing his true colors & became the heartless villain. 
Maybe it’s just me cause Snow was never a villain I loved to hate. He was always on par with characters like Umbridge from Harry Potter. They don’t deserve redemption, & that’s what this book seemed to try to convey for most of the book atleast. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, Torture, War, Blood, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Colonisation, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Gaslighting, Medical content, Classism, Death, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Murder, Child death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

marissaam12's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

Was similar to the movie, and was still engrossed in the book despite knowing what will happen. Explains a lot about the character for the other books - Suzanne Collins is so smart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Gun violence

rahzel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Classism, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Child death, and Vomit

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

mle11's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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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 against another edition

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

bxnny's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death, Body horror, Blood, Animal cruelty, Child death, Deportation, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Chronic illness and Excrement

lawenn's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Torture

ladybanecourt's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-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

5.0

✨5/5✨

"Snow lands on top."

This was such an interesting book!! It is easy to hate Snow from reading the first Hunger Games books as it gives us the impression that he is just downright evil. But this prequel, set from Snow's life from before, gives us key points about his character, past, and motivations. Definitely a good read.

P. S. Sejanus is my favorite character fr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Torture

Minor: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

matcha_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

I never thought I'd be so interested in Coriolanus Snow's origin story. Are villians born or made? We see Coriolanus' formative years during a much simpler Panem and learn about the people and events that influenced him. 

One thing I really loved about Hunger Games triology was that everything felt intentional and concise. But this prequel felt more long winded than needed and I found myself rushing through parts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Torture