Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

86 reviews

nicoleadrianneauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

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

cardan_greenbriar_1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Vraiment j'ai adoré, comme tous les autres tomes mais j'ai mis que 4 car je l'ai trouvé un peu long à certains moments.
J'ai adoré Lucy gray mais le personnage de Coriolanus est détestable. Il utilise tout le monde pour avoir du pouvoir. 
<spoilerIl fait semblant d'être l'ami de Sejanus, il utilise Lucy Gray pour remporter le prix Plinth, même si au final il l'a pas eu parce qu'ils se sont rendus compte de sa tricherie. Il cherche tout le temps à excuser ses actes en se disant qu'il avait pas le choix alors que si

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction

lovosii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Alcohol

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

A fascinating look into Snow’s journey to being the tyrant we know from the original trilogy, the red flags were there from the beginning. I am choosing to believe

that Lucy Gray survived and escaped into the woods and doesn’t just live on through her songs.

The pacing was a little off sometimes but overall exciting and gripping. Suzanne Collins is a genius. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lasunflower's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.5

I watched the movie first and watched a few analyses before reading the book too.

Bc of this, I didn't go into it blindly. To me especially, it is  less of a prequel but an analysis of themes of nature and control, nature and nurture, and the nature of humanity. All this is done through the setting of Panem, the Hunger Games and Snow. A lot to think about on those themes for sure.

That being said, it was interesting how Collins built upon the lore of the Hunger Games, answering questions such as why it was made, who made it and who developed it. She is a great and thoughtful writer and did this very well. And she weaved it into the preexisting trilogy if the book so well. So well in fact you are like oh so that's why Snow reacted this way or that way with the 74th Hunger Games: it's like the prequel already existed! Now I want to re-read them all.

Perhaps a detailed analysis coming soon?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, War, and Classism

draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was very whatever. I liked the last section of the book because that's what really matters, but I didn't care about the beginning one bit. I'm glad I completely finished the Hunger Games though!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Addiction

samcsmith's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

dcdc's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts

arinheck's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

My least favourite hunger games book. I miss katniss ngl

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Cannibalism