Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

10 reviews

growintogardens's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

I've been meaning to read her work and this book fit one of my reading challenges. A great collection of stories. Some were super disturbing at times, but all them were well written and made me think. The second to last one was probably my favorite. So strange, but powerful. She's definitely great at Sci fi and I'm excited to read more of her stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gore, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Medical trauma, War, Grief, Misogyny, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Incest, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Slavery, Body horror, Confinement, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, and Racial slurs

I'm probably forgetting stuff- there's a lot of triggers.

quarkie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? No

4.75

I've never read any Octavia Butler before, and now I'm wondering what took me so long. Even though in the preface she talks about how she's nor really a writer of short stories, I found these very compelling.

The overarching theme seemed to be "take a societal rule or norm, break it, and then tell a very human and empathic story about those who are involved." In this collection, Butler picked a few very heavy topics such as forced pregnancy, genetic disease, incest, paranoia and delusion, government interrogation, and utopia. But in all cases, she shines such a human light on these challenging topics, and presents you with such different perspectives. I also love that she gives a brief afterward for every story, giving you a glimpse into her thought process or the inspiration for the story.

Really, the only reason I took off a fraction of a star is because sometimes the topics are quite heavy, making them difficult to read.

The two essays that she includes are incredibly compelling. She says that the best part of her is her fiction, but the contents of her essays had me in tears. They contain so much wisdom not just for writers, but for everyone pursuing a path that is difficult.

There were a few quotes that I liked so much that I am considering buying the book, just so I can look back on them:
"If you hard enough at something that doesn't matter, you can forget for a while about the things that do."
"Decide what you want. Aim high. Go for it."
"Make a habit of doing your best."
"If the idea of doing this scares you, fine. Go ahead and be afraid."
"It's amazing what we can do if we simply refuse to give up. I suspect that this is the most important thing I've said in all my interviews and talks as well as in this book. It's a truth that applies to more than writing. It applies to anything that is important, but difficult, important, but frightening. We're all capable of climbing so much higher than we usually permit ourselves to suppose. The word, again, is "persist"!"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Body horror

Moderate: Incest

savvylit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

Butler's skill as an author is just as present in these short stories as in her more well-known and critically acclaimed novels. If anything, Butler's talent combined with the short length of each tale leaves readers desiring more. The stories in Bloodchild cover a wide variety of speculative topics: alien contact, life-altering disease, utopia, medical ethics, and more. Not every story is incredible but most of them are, and that's quite an accomplishment for a short story collection.

Lastly, one of my favorite features of this particular collection was the afterwords written by Butler explaining her reasons for writing, which appeared after each story. This is the first time I've read a collection with that level of behind-the-scenes insight into an author's mind and I really appreciated it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Similar to many of the other reviews, it is crazy to believe that Butler was not a person fond of short stories, since she really excels in this little collection! And like all short story collections, there will be some that are not the most interesting, are harder to get into and envision, and some that hit powerfully and, before you know it, you are reading the same page over and over again to picture the scene again and savor such. All in all, something that I really loved about this collection, and where I think every story connects, is that— whether they be utopias or personal hells— every story centers on communication. By communication I mean what it takes for one to understand another while also relaying messages common to any science-fiction stories on self-determination, hope/longing/desire (what defines and separates them), and critically wondering what humanity has to offer in times of great political, social, or even moments of intense moral despair. Mesh that with slightly philosophical musings on free will, religion, and human domination in our interactions with our environments, and in the end you get a stunning and powerful book that fits itself well within Butler's collection. In particular, I really enjoyed Bloodchild, Speech Sounds, Positive Obsession, and The Book of Martha!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Colonisation and Incest

noahsingh's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Medical trauma, Genocide, Colonisation, Confinement, War, Violence, Suicide, Racism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Torture, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Incest, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

annamorgan27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

lmaowolf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body horror, Gore, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Abortion and Rape

minor self cannibalism, male pregnancy

ivy123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

Really interesting mix of stories and incredible writing. The creativity of this author is out of this world and the afterwards added some great context to the stories. Would definitely read more from her.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Self harm, Incest, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, and Death

szuum's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Terminal illness, Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Gore

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Rape, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I had high hopes when I started reading this short story collection, and am thrilled to say that all of them were met. Butler's work is masterful, she developed dynamic, complex worlds and characters with more skill in thirty pages than some writers have in hundreds. Each of these stories were told with a precision that made them seem much longer than they actually were, leaving me with the feeling that I had read in epic involving her alien and apocalyptic societies when in reality I had absorbed them in only a half-hour. I also appreciated that this collection included afterwords and essays written by Butler. It was interesting to understand the inspiration behind each of her pieces, and her perspectives on writing in general. Her resolve that writing is a skill to be practiced, and one enhanced not by talent but by persistence, is necessary for any wannabe writer, including myself, to accept. Such an attitude made us fortunate enough to read her award-winning works despite the professors and publishers who did not initially recognize their value.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Blood, Animal death, Confinement, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content