Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

17 reviews

30something_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious 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 am at an utter loss for words. This was incredible. It was deeply unsettling. I couldn't sleep last night.

I'm so torn between wanting to pick up the next book immediately but also needing 2-3 business days to process everything that happened. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Violence

Minor: Cursing, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and War

kemrick19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Blood, Racism, Murder, Death, and Body horror

vigil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

so intriguing and against all odds, enticing, despite also being deeply horrifying. ms butler loves to make you uncomfortable, and by god does she do it here. i liked how butler really keenly portrayed the bond that occurs between a victim and abuser(s)

and how often sexual assault is used as a way to create that tether

and was able to sketch out the appeal that can exist in that relationship for a victim against all odds.

lilith and nikanji are both very sympathetic yet also ambiguous figures (nikanji, more so, but lilith is beginning to gain on it towards the end) who's attachment to one another is very clear to the reader. the ethics of consent is something i've long been interested in and i'm intrigued by how its explored here, even if i don't necessarily agree with the alien's conclusions.

i'd say my one complaint was that

this book is rather essentialist. its from 1987 so like, yeah obviously but i would've liked more exploration on it in a world building point of view. the onakali's essentialism didn't quite bother me, it fit with the attitudes the book potrayed them with but i would've liked a deeper explanation into it. what about onakali's who don't fit into the frame work of male-female-ooloi pairings? what in the culture or history led them here. but considering this book was founded off of octavia butler assuming something was wrong with humans in our genetics, i'm not too sure that's the aim of the book.

very dismayed at octavia butler becoming one of those black author's everyone quotes but never reads and posits as a moralizing figure here to teach ignorant white people. she's not one for moralizing and isn't trying to preach an agenda. many of her focuses lie in the frequent eroticism in fraught and distressing topics. this is because octavia butler at her core was a fucking freak. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Misogyny, Violence, Rape, Genocide, Colonisation, Confinement, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Blood

peachani's review against another edition

challenging slow-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? No

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Confinement

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gore, Cancer, Murder, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexual assault

remescient's review against another edition

challenging dark 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'm not fully sure what I feel about this book. It's good, yes, but also part of me is unhappy with it in a way I can't really describe. It's worth reading and deciding for yourself. I'm interested to see where it goes from here in the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cancer, and Car accident

meowsloudlyinyourear's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

I didn't love Parable of the Sower so I was pleasantly surprised by this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, War, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Suicide, Death, Medical content, Sexual content, Confinement, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Forced institutionalization

tungstenmouse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book is very heavy and shoves the worst traits of humanity in your face at times. I'd like to say it still gave me hope but then Butler came in behind me and crushed that hope. However, the narrative is effective and the storytelling is good. I found it all strangely believable despite its bleakness. Even the main character has unlikable traits and I appreciated that for its reality. I also appreciated how imaginative the idea of the aliens were. Very different from your standard Star Wars/Trek aliens. Also, I appreciated the allegory of the Slave Trade. 

Overall, I'd say this is worth the read but just be ready to be hurt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Body horror, Drug use, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Toxic relationship, Murder, Homophobia, Death, and Blood

reading_for_pluto's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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? N/A

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault, Cancer, and Violence

queenclio's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

I adored this book! Butler's worldbuilding is phenomenal and thought-provoking. She puts her characters in challenging situations that keep me pondering long after I've put it down

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Rape and Child death

mandi_lea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Confinement, War, Gaslighting, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content