Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

33 reviews

arithmetic's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Child death, Trafficking, Slavery, Pedophilia, and Gore

kefeshe's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

The concept was really weird. I found my own preconceived notions of what is socially acceptable coming into play. I was faced with my own biases and discomfort with engineering people to produce desirable characteristics like food produce. I appreciated how the characters developed and changed, I don't think I would have felt satisfied with the ending if they had not evolved in the way they had 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

kshertz's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Octavia Butler saw the future and dreamed it. This book is no different. The idea of enslaved people and people in Africa that can change bodies. Creating their own tribes in Africa and America. The following of those with magical powers and their lineage was fascinating. She was so creative and it stands the rest of time for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Racism, Abandonment, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, and Slavery

m_petranoff's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

Moderate: War, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Like many of Butler's books, this is a challenging look at the nature of humanity. It is dark and about how easy it can be to lose ones humanity, but not as challenging to read as some of her other novels. There are a lot of content warnings, and only a few are graphic, but the theme of the book itself is engaging with challenging themes.

nstew16's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Classism, Racism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Murder, and Self harm

lasafica_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Genocide, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Sexual harassment

storyorc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

As much and as often as I wanted to condemn characters in this book, they're written with such rich humanity that it would feel hypocritical. Butler holds your eyelids open, Clockwork Orange style, to the ugliness of a soul under impossible strain until you admit you feel for them. Wild Seed does not sidestep the racial tensions of 1600s-1800s Africa and America either, but rather lets it inform and enrich the more insular struggles of these little communities of enhanced humans. Our main characters, Anyanwu and Doro, are immortal shapeshifters (though in thematically very different ways) and therefore make for an incredible vehicle to grasp at the ever-shifting, ever-evolving nature of humanity with all its flaws and spirit. Many side characters tug on the heartstrings as well.

Wild Seed does take its time but the effect is mesmerising rather than dull. I read it in two sittings, faster than I've read much shorter novels. It's also a world apart from the usual sci-fi novels I read from this era in terms of queer acceptance (and obviously feminism and anti-fascism). These shapeshifters are practical enough to be mostly unfazed by sex between all kinds of different bodies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicide, and Incest

Minor: Pedophilia and Ableism

These topics are not presented uncritically at all.

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

💬: "“I am old,” she said, masking her fear with anger. “I could be your mother’s mother!” She could have been an ancestor of his mother’s mother. But she kept that to herself. “Who are you?” she demanded. “I could be your mother’s father,” he said. She took another step backward, somehow controlling her growing fear.

Butler, Octavia E.. Wild Seed (The Patternist Series Book 1) (p. 11). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: adult, science fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction

📚Page Count: 404

🎧Audiobook Length: 11h 09min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 

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One of my favorite books of all time. Amazing.

5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


I loved this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Colonisation, and Death

lexi17d's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

Well that was weird.. not sure how I feel about it. Not my favorite of Octavia Butler’s books that I’ve read so far. It wasn’t bad necessarily, just.. meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Suicide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Slavery, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Domestic abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Incest

saltycoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Slavery