Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

120 reviews

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

tayler_marie_brooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Blood, Violence, War, Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Suicide

saskiajva's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

Reading this series growing up, I really hated Mockingjay and thought it ruined the whole series. As an adult, knowing who dies and where the story goes, having experienced trauma of my own, i was able to appreciate it for how masterful it is. She describes trauma and PTSD so incredibly accurately, the types of decisions that are made and the person Katniss becomes show so many nuanced and incredibly profound experiences. Honestly, i kind of hated it a bit because of how real the trauma felt. But it’s also what makes this book incredible. This is a series you can reread 100 times and always find new meaning and understanding in.

Tatiana Maslaney is an INCREDIBLE narrator

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Self harm, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Violence, and War

sadiaa's review against another edition

5.0

I wish the book ended differently, I mean she shoots coin and then is hospitalised until she's banished to district 12 and then in the future she and peeta live happily ever after with two children

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, War, and Murder

claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition

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

5.0

Amazing Amazing Amazing. Team Peeta 4 life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gun violence, War, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Drug use, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Medical content

izzysizemore's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

doriandelioncourt'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Self harm, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Mental illness, Slavery, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

ladykozan's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Child death, War, Blood, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

withlivjones's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

A thrilling end to the trilogy, featuring realistic, un-sugarcoated depictions of war where the stakes are high and a lot of favourite characters are lost :( Something I’ve loved in this series is that Katniss isn’t presented as some bulletproof heroine. Sure, she is able to hold her own to some extent but Collins could have made her some overpowered prodigal Mary-Sue (which is kind of how she’s presented in propaganda as the Mockingjay) when really she’s still so young and she never comes away from battle unscathed and instead almost always survives out of sheer luck or through other people’s help (or sacrifice). I think this makes her a super realistic and compelling protagonist. I also really like how the romance wasn’t really the focus of the trilogy, there was a bit more love triangle content in this book but even then it takes a backseat to the rebellion, and as Katniss says, she “can survive just fine without either” of Peeta or Gale. 

I do think that the pace sped up a little too much towards the end - we spend so much time in Katniss’ head leading up to the end of the war and the execution, but I would have loved to have seen more of her thought process as she decided both to hold the symbolic Hunger Games and to kill Coin instead of Snow, since both of these decisions are really significant and they just kind of happen without much explanation. The ending itself and the epilogue is really sweet though, and I like that it took a long time for Katniss to have children and that Peeta was willing to wait for her, since Katniss was so terrified of being forced to bring children into Panem in Catching Fire. Overall, I loved this book and the entire trilogy and I can’t believe it took me so long to read it!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Child death, Alcohol, Gun violence, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

geooo's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Drug abuse, Blood, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, Mental illness, Gun violence, Child death, War, Suicide attempt, Murder, Drug use, Death, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders