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Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

18 reviews

whirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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karen191's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

What a fun read for the month of pride, I’ve never read a book quite like this. A queer, non-binary, alien main character.
At first attempting to live with family, then eventually going out on their on to find themselves and some mates
Towards the end I felt as though it lost a (tiny) bit of its footing, but still had an overall satisfying ending.
I didn’t like that they went to Tomas and Jesuas home town to find Aaor mates but then Jesua only has one like at the end of the book. What about Tomas!
 
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haylzno's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

I waited to review any of the 3 books until I finished the whole trilogy. I will say I liked this one the least (I didn't NOT like it, but it wasn't my favorite of the trilogy). 
What I did enjoy about the series is that it almost felt like a collection of short stories: in that each novel really focuses on a different main character each time and their own development and experiences during this "rebirth" of Earth and humanity. 

This novel focuses on Jodahs, the first of its kind. Human construct, Ooloi, and possibly the being that ends the human resistance once and for all. 
While I enjoyed being able to dissect what it meant to be ooloi more in this novel than the others, I was sad to not really learn much more about the Mars colony more. 
I have many complex feelings about this whole series and I 100% think that was Octavia Butlers intention. Overall, I will recommend the Lilith's Brood trilogy to anyone that will listen! This is one that all sci-fi lovers  should read!
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almost_literate's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Thank you grandcentralpub for my gifted copy!

It’s almost impossible to review an Octavia Butler book without mentioning how ahead of her time she was. I’m not sure if this was her intention when she wrote this in 1989, but reading it in 2022 it’s difficult to not see the oankali and construct children as a metaphor for being trans or non-binary. 

The oankali have three sexes: male, female, and ooloi (who use the pronoun “it” and are neither male nor female). And while they have an idea or plan for what sex a child will be, this isn’t confirmed until the child’s metamorphosis. Further, the child has a fair amount of choice and control over this, depending on which parent they gravitate towards. 

When Johdas, who was presumed male, begins metamorphosis and it becomes apparent it will become ooloi instead, its parent says, “You were never male, no matter how you looked.” I’m not trans, but if I were, I can’t imagine reading that line and not feeling seen. 

Johdas was a fantastic narrator and I loved finishing this series through its eyes. This series was an epic journey and I loved every second of it. Imago was the perfect end cap, but I was sad for it to end. 
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sunn_bleach's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? No

1.75

A strange book that I have mixed feelings on, with a Mary Sue who knows better if they weren’t so alien. I ended up finishing this less out of interest in the plot or characters than the philosophical ramifications of its world.
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hannahollihan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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kirkspockreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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