Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

4 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This books starts on July 4th, so what a fitting day to finish it! I loved The Hunger Games series when I first read it, devouring each book within just a couple of hours. Still, for some reason, I wasn’t all that interested when I heard about this prequel. Who wants to read about the man we know becomes the ultimate villain? Turns out, I do.

Even if I hadn’t known the future of Coriolanus Snow, I would’ve hated him. From the very first page, he is vain, selfish, and entitled. There are plenty of new characters to love and root for in this book, but never once did I find myself rooting for him. Collins does an incredible job of giving us a look into the mind of a narcissist. 

Like the other Hunger Games books, this one is easy to binge. Even when there’s not a lot of action on-page, it spurs you forward and you’ll look back and wonder how you just blew through 200 pages at a time without realizing it. I’m glad I decided to read it, and I’m looking forward to the next prequel she has planned!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Excrement

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

bass_clarinet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Trafficking, Cannibalism, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Misogyny and Vomit

maxenporter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

Spoiler warning for the whole book

I want to start of with, parts of this book really drew me in, other parts were really difficult to get through. The last third felt rushed, and if I had to spend one more page in Heavensbee Hall, I was going to need some morphling. However, what I did find striking about this novel was that Suzanne Collins managed to  capture something not many authors can. This story gives us a close-up look the mentality of narcissistic, abusive men. Coriolanus’ need to justify his every action, constantly basking in his own righteous, or if he felt was wrong, then he was the victim of the situation. The book illustrates how abusive men in power will use power imbalances to get and control women. The whole book, I saw the trauma bond forming between Coriolanus and Lucy Grey. By the end of the story, my creeping suspicion had been confirmed: Coriolanus didn’t love Lucy Grey, he was using her, and then accused her of manipulation to rid himself of blame. Collins must have read extensively about narcissistic abuse, because this is a shocking acurate portrayal of trauma bonding and abuse cycles. Overall, while the book had some problems with pacing, the cliffhangers were JAWDROPPING, the narrative was interesting, and I was satisfied with how the story ended. Good on you, Suzanne Collins. Keep doing what you’re doing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Vomit

The Hunger Games series is known to be violent, but I didn’t find it any more violent than Mockingjay was