Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

37 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

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

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.25

Characters: 7.5/10
Relationships: 3/10
Atmosphere/Setting: 6.5/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Plot/Intrigue: 7/10
Internal Logic: 9/10
Entertainment: 3/10
Overall: 45/70, 3.25* 

I read this for a challenge prompt, and chose it because I've struggled with other things I've read/listened to by Butler. while I'm glad I made it through and am grateful for the experience overall: this just wasn't something I could enjoy. I know that's kind of the point, so I'm glad I chose to listen to this when I knew I'd have the emotional bandwidth for it. 

I listened to the Book 2 preview at the end and won't be continuing in the series, but I understand why it's so popular! it's just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Medical content, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

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

dreareads_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

The way I love this book with everything I am.

Listen I’m making an unnecessarily long video review about this book, don’t worry. Just know…. It’s perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Torture, Grief, Self harm, War, Cursing, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, Death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Slavery, Suicide, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

comradehaasboy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Cursing

kri13's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

At first I really enjoyed this book.  The heavy plot of coercion and sexual assault became too much for me.  It's troubling how the captures are made to seem almost affectionate. I also thought the book worked under the assumption that men would rape women on site if they'd been alone for a time- and that all humans would want to quickly form heterosexual couples when put in a room together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy, Cancer, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

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

cealley2012's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence

meant2breading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Very odd and thought provoking, but in a good way!! 

This was my first time really reading a book like this and from this author. Dawn was seriously fascinating, yet horrifying. Octavia certainly has you dive right in. With books I’ve read lately, I feel like it takes time to get going, but WHAM! You are right in there moving and I was captivated from start to finish. 

I read this a few weeks ago, and I am still sitting with how the author makes us think and feel about gender, reproduction, discrimination (multiple TWs), western medicine, societal norms, nature, etc. I’m sure my wheels will be spinning on this for a while, even after I dive into the next one(s)…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Murder and Sexual violence