Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

82 reviews

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

I’m usually a big believer in reading the book before watching the movie adaptation, but this was a rare exception. I finally gave in and watched the movie on a long flight, but I actually ended up being grateful that I’d watched the movie first. After watching the film adaptation and then reading the book only a couple of weeks later, there were many moments when I realized that certain elements of the original book had been altered or even completely omitted from the movie version. Had I read the book when it first came out and then watched the movie later, I doubt I would have recognized as many of the differences. I personally enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences between the original source material and the film adaptation, which also kept me actively engaged in the storyline and provided a sense of urgency to discover what might happen next every time I had to set the book aside. Certain elements of the book were definitely relatively dark and violently gruesome, which explains why some events were modified or removed in the film version, but this intense backstory helps to provide context for the seemingly heartless President Snow that later appears in The Hunger Games. I found the storyline to be extremely intriguing and enjoyed the dynamics between the various characters. I would highly recommend this book, especially to people who grew up loving the original Hunger Games series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Murder, Genocide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Classism, Cursing, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Animal death, Addiction, Medical content, Bullying, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

yourlocalredpanda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

nia_readsalot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, War, Drug use, Blood, Addiction, and Violence

lemoneverdeen's review against another edition

emotional fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

elenabluenette's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Medical trauma, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Grief, Police brutality, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Dementia, and Drug abuse

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

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

Minor: Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Bullying

Minor: Excrement and Infidelity

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

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

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