Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

45 reviews

ruthhelizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I feel like this is a book I should read at least every few years for the rest of my life. Deeply challenging, immersive and deliberate, this book is up there with some of the most life changing I've ever read. The depths of what it has to say means I think it needs more than one journey through for a reader, so I think I will be back here for a second review not so far in the future. A true modern classic, and one I think which should be studied as standard in school.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy and Religious bigotry

Minor: Incest, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization

alspacedout's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Suicide attempt and Rape

lolothecatlady0's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

aleksanski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual assault, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Vomit, Misogyny, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

💬:“Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors had to put up with more than I ever could. Much more. You know what I mean.”

Butler, Octavia. Kindred (p. 51). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, classics, time travel, fiction

📚Page Count: 264

🎧Audiobook Length: 10hrs 55mins

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Kindred is largely regarded as Octavia E. Butler's magnum opus, or in other words, her most famous and important book. This book is harrowing and it always keeps me on the edge of my seat. This book is about a Black woman from the 1970's be thrusted back in time to the antebellum south, around 1815.

Kindred was an entire experience for me. As a Black woman, this book was terrifying, the thought of going back to the antebellum south, in an era where we as Black people had no rights to speak of. Dana went through so much in this book because Octavia E Butler does not shy away from putting her characters through the wringer to prove several points. 

This book was just phenomenal! It's so hard to believe that this was written in 1979. It could have as easily been written in 1980 or 2015. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
5/5

I listened to this audiobook on [Libro.fm]

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, Self harm, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Death, Cursing, and Sexism

jenmcreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of those books that is so good you lose any access to words trying to describe it. The word that comes up most for me is visceral. The experience of reading this book was so visceral for me. I think this does an incredible job of showing both individual responsibility in the midst of horrifying injustices (in this case, slavery, so among the very worst imaginable), however also emphasizing the way individuals can get swept up in such a large system. The narration was clear that individuals (such as Rufus) were not solely responsible for the overwhelming brutality and injustice of the system, but it also did not exonerate the characters for the acts they were responsible for. Something about this book more than anything I have ever read really drove home the relentless and lifelong brutality of life for those who were enslaved in the antebellum South, and while horrifying, this was a truly remarkable read. I feel so dumb trying to write about this book, just read it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Self harm, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Rape, Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Incest, Gaslighting, Gore, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Sexism, Blood, Hate crime, and Racial slurs

bookish_bry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

This was honestly an amazing book. I was very impressed by the characters' portrayals. The plot in the end was a rather straightforward one (despite the complications of time travel), but the characters and relationships were so very complicated and well written.

Rufus was such a complex character who we saw grow from a helpless toddler to an irredeemable man. And we can imagine similar stories having happened to his parents. We watched the world poison him and we watched him poison the world in turn. His and Dana's relationship was so... human. At the end, he was irredeemable in mine and Dana's eyes, but he never stopped being human.

Butler didn't shy away from having messy, very human characters. It's often common for people to completely dehumanize slave owners, which is fair! They did horrible horrible things, but by pretending they were not human, it is easy to distance ourselves from them. It's easier to pretend people today would have never possibly been capable of those things if they'd been born into that time. It makes it easier to turn away from things that are happening now because we couldn't be evil because those people weren't real people. 

On the other side, it's easy to wonder why people allowed these things to happen. We find ourselves wondering why slaves didn't stand up in mass and overwhelm their masters as one. Yet, Butler engages with this too.

Through Dana, we saw her make concessions to this world she was thrust into. We saw her walk that line between surviving and keeping a kernel of her true self alive. In the end, she drew the line in the sand, killing the child turned man who she had such a complicated relationship with. We saw it in other slaves too. We saw it in everyone from Sara to Nigel as they gave pieces of themselves to retain what little they had. Even Alice, much like Dana, eventually stole back her freedom, but in a very different way than Dana.

Butler's portrayal of all of these people as flawed, often very flawed humans, was very impressive.

I think

Dana loosing her arm and the book as a whole really was a perfect metaphor for how slavery still leaves its permanent marks on our society. It reaches through time and bites at us.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit

purplemind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 Octavia E. Butler è stata la regina della fantascienza afroamericana, e si vede. Questo è un libro che non ti lascia nemmeno quando l’hai finito, che ti fa pensare e ripensare a certe scene all’infinito. Il legame tra Rufus e Dana è chiaro sin dalle prime pagine e la narrazione non si concentra troppo sugli aspetti più “tecnici” del funzionamento dei suoi involontari viaggi nel tempo. Piuttosto, Butler ci porta tra i campi, nelle cucine e nelle anguste stanze della piantagione di Tom e Margaret Weylin, genitori di Rufus e temporanei padroni di Dana – spesso coinvolti in episodi di ordinaria crudeltà verso i propri schiavi. La rabbia è inevitabile, così forte a volte da toglierti il respiro; è proprio qui che sta la grandezza dell’autrice, nell’usare il proprio stile diretto e senza fronzoli per trasmettere un’immagine nitida (e senza dubbio fonte di moltissime ricerche) del sud degli Stati Uniti prima della Guerra Civile, e delle persone che ci vivevano.
 (bella anche la traduzione, molto naturale e non forzata) 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Cursing

Moderate: Sexual violence and Pregnancy

aloy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Medical content, Hate crime, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, and Confinement

knenigans's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Rape