Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

178 reviews

sannesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is an amazing read, but this is definitely not a light read! It basically contains all the trigger warnings you can think of, so be aware of that starting this book.

Amazing writing, and a difficult, dark, thought-provoking story to read. This story is about a black woman with modern values and norms time travelling to a time of slavery in the South of America. Even though this has the sci-fi/fantasy element of time tracelling, I wouldn't consider this much as a sci-fi book. This book leans more towards historical/literary fiction. A book exploring history, humanity, society, intereacial realationships, power dynamics, racsim, sexism and trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Torture, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Murder

kemrick19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, Grief, Self harm, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, and Vomit

things100's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.0

I read this book for book club and on my was it intense I never would’ve thought to pick this book myself but I’m really glad I read it. That being said it’s really intense made me cry and scream multiple times but it was a good insight into 1800s and slavery. But again as I just said it’s really intense please read the tws

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Slavery, Body horror, and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Self harm

Minor: Rape, Child death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

bando_bauldio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow. What a story. Octavia Butler did it again. This was such a gut wrenching narrative that constantly had you on edge. Seeing the way Dana and Rufus’ relationship developed brought on so many complex emotions, especially Rufus’s character development. It also just makes you think about the way people are desensitized to severe systemic injustices, which I find very relevant to our current political climate. This is definitely a difficult and emotionally draining read, but 1000% worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

One qualm I have with Octavia’s books is her affinity for younger women dating older men. I mean, Kevin and Dana didn’t have a huge age gap, but it’s something I’ve noticed.

evesaldalome's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Murder, Violence, and Racial slurs

cf831's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Blood, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

jkreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

4.5⭐️

Kindred is a sci-fi/historical fiction/speculative fiction mashup and those genres blended together aren’t something I would normally choose, but I’m glad I picked this book up! It’s a classic for a reason. The time jumps between 1976 and the early 1800s were well-executed, they felt jarring and I as the reader felt a sense of dread and panic for Dana each time she was pulled back to the “antebellum South”.

This book deals with some heavy themes given the setting - racism, slavery and rape just to name a few. Kindred unpacks some big issues but what struck me was the idea of what it means to be a ‘good person’ and how this has evolved over the years. Actions that were considered kind or good in the flashback portions of this book are now (rightfully) understood as cruel and heinous by most. 

Kindred is such a well-crafted book that even though it was set in the mid-70s and this was mentioned frequently throughout the story, I kept forgetting that Dana wasn’t living in 2024. Nothing about the writing or the references felt dated, which is no mean feat for a book written almost 40 years ago! This book encompasses so many different genres, I honestly think just about anyone could read and enjoy it (and by enjoy I mean scream into your pillow every two seconds).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Hate crime, Slavery, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Abandonment, and Blood

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

i don’t think i have proper words for how this book feels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gun violence, Trafficking, Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Confinement, Gore, and Child death

disguisedposer's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Violence, Self harm, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, and Rape

charliebites's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Death, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, Police brutality, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Slavery, Physical abuse, Self harm, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Torture

Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Classism, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism