Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Spotgaai by Suzanne Collins

100 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

I really do like this book (though I like the first two better), and Tatiana Maslany was an incredible narrator. However, this final book in the trilogy is just relentless darkness and trauma and it was really hard to take on this read through. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad 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

“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.”

I am in pain after rereading this. Somehow I have that same feeling I got when I read this for the first time as a 12 year old. Just that emptiness in my soul after reading such a bittersweet ending. This book was full of war and politics and rebellion which is why it was so boring to me as a kid, but 10+ years later and I love it even more. There’s so much loss and the ending does an amazing job of portraying how Katniss and Peeta have been damaged beyond repair, but still have hope for their future together. They suffered a lot, but are braver and will make their kids braver for it.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I re-read this series as an adult, and wow. Collins grasps the realities of oppression, revolution, etc. better than most (yt) authors I've read. She also portrays the effects of trauma extremely well without slowing down the have of the story which is a phenomenal skill to have mastered. There's a reason these books are so beloved.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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: Yes

In my rereading of THG trilogy, I considered leaving this one out.  It truly is four hundred and fifty odd pages of bleakness. Of a seventeen year old being puppeteered for a war effort, whilst struggling alone with the overwhelming trauma that death, loss, murder and manipulation brings. I could hardly read the last fifty pages through my tears.

Katniss’ predicament makes sense of course, and the conversation Collins presents about war and enemies and victors I agree with, but it needs saying that this conclusion of the trilogy has such a bleak and dark plot that I am left feeling empty.

Despite the love I have for this series, I forgot and am disappointed in how shoehorned in the love triangle conflict is. In a series about a child living in famine, thrust into murder for sport - twice, who becomes unwittingly thrown about as a pawn for the rebel cause surrounded by adults who are largely unfussed by her unaddressed trauma, and then is off to battle in the war herself in a series of mishaps- Of course! We must remember this protagonist is a girl, so we must save room for the only two male friends in her life to compete as love interests. It is a sad feature in most YA novels with a female protagonist. 

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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