Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

21 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

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

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

risaleel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Xenophobia, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Grief, and War

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Genocide

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

mrising1's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Devastating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, Genocide, Confinement, Torture, Violence, and Sexual assault

alexhaydon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Xenophobia, Grief, and Confinement

readingsofaslinky's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Murder, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia