Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

133 reviews

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

The past isn’t so far away… This book is a must read.  Every word is gripping and visceral. Butler transports the reader through time and space. Truly this story stands alone because of how clearly it speaks about the horrors of slavery, the tangled web of complicity, suffering, and shame the accompanied it and the time, and how clear it is that hate and prejudice remain with us today, and still need to be battled with in all its forms. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Cursing

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Child death

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Suicide, Violence, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Addiction

breadwitchery's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Self harm, Rape, Suicide, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Death, Car accident, Vomit, Ableism, Death of parent, and Sexual content

aqtbenz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Slavery, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Rape

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

nick13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I have never read any of Octavia Butler's work before but now I need to check some more out because this read was astounding, emotional, but astounding. Every single character in this was incredibly well written and well thought out, making every one of them believable, even if some are VERY unlikable.

All I wish more for in this story was for the time the characters spent in their present to be more fleshed out along with Edana and Kevin's relationship to be a bit more expounded upon instead of just presumed throughout the book.

But really, if all I'm wishing for in a story is more of it, it clearly did something very well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Body horror, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Vomit, Sexism, Rape, Slavery, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity and Incest

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Infertility

aliciawhatsthestory's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Slavery, Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

graceslibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent and Death

hunkydory's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

For a work so early in Butler's career, this is a remarkably stunning read. No need, really, to touch upon the now oft-described plot: Butler's aim is the experience--both graphically physical but more psychological: it works its way through our time-traveling narrator and her white husband; it impacts their relationship (alas, not as thoroughly explored as it might have been); but it is one of the first books I've read to explore the nuance of living in a culture of slavery rather than merely stating or claiming the complex challenges.

Butler's liberated (at least for the 1970s) narrator discovers how sinuous the workings of plantation life might well have been, how insidious the rationalizations of submission to authority. And while the book is tightly-written and highly suspenseful, her handling of dialogue and subtler action reveals the various pulls of power humans have over one another, because of and in spite of the power dynamics between them. 

There are no apologies, justifications, or qualifications for slavery and its adherents here. But we instead experience a kind of subjugation and oppression which moves far deeper than the given physicality of this institution. (Now to go see how Hulu has handled it . . . )

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Slavery, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape, Trafficking, Grief, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Vomit, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Death, and Blood

This work directly shows several scenes of nearly every kind of inhumanity from the institution of slavery, though the descriptions fall short of body horror or gore.

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

This is my first Octavia E. Butler's work and I am so excited to explore more of her writing. I really enjoyed reading Kindred and thought it offered a really challenging and tense environment throughout the whole book. There is absolutely no messing around, and you are taken immediately into the time-travelling realm. I have no experience with time travel with my previous books, but I did agree with the foreword, in that Butler has such a seemingly effortless way to bring in time travel to the scenes. 

One message of the novel that was very reflective, which is noted by the characters themselves, is how quickly people can adapt to societal attitudes. Transporting back to the slave trade in 1815 meant that Dana had to adapt to living as an enslaved woman and one message that is really dominant is the idea that it is easy to slip into those societal norms, especially in a life-or-death situation. The dialogue was written so honestly here, and I felt that frustration alongside Dana.

This book does have some hard-hitting and raw descriptions of slavery, so please read the trigger warnings. However, if you can stomach gore/slavery etc., then this is an essential read. I think Butler's prose is blunt and honest which alludes to just some of the horror of the time. It is purposefully uncomfortable to read but Butler creates such a strong and absorbing atmosphere. 

One criticism I do have is mainly about the structure of the book, although I can absolutely see why it has been written this way. The chapters were very long, and split into smaller parts. Each chapter reflects a specific part of Dana's time travel and so it is understandable that the structure follows closely to Dana's experience. I did find it harder to keep going at times because of this, but the story was so engaging it didn't put me off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Rape, Slavery, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Self harm, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol