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mrsdarcylynn's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
More than 10 years after being handed this book in a college level English class, I have finally read beyond the titular short story!
There is something compelling about Octavia Butler’s writing. Something that pulls you into her world and leaves you wanting more.
I’m so glad I finally finished this collection of short stories. I will think about and come back to many of them for quite some time. And, if anything else, I hope I walk away from this reading experience and persist.
There is something compelling about Octavia Butler’s writing. Something that pulls you into her world and leaves you wanting more.
I’m so glad I finally finished this collection of short stories. I will think about and come back to many of them for quite some time. And, if anything else, I hope I walk away from this reading experience and persist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Incest, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Confinement, and Animal death
Moderate: Death and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Miscarriage, and Sexual violence
Many of the short stories have multiple trigger warnings, all have at least one. Read with self care in mind ♥️ These stories are heavy, but thoughtful too.minary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death
Minor: Incest
erikawynn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Incest, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Torture, and Confinement
emudds's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
my final entry into the butler canon! this collection is probably not my favorite of hers (which i think she would agree with based on her foreword about not enjoying short stories) but her writing is so immersive and engaging that it's still a more enjoyable reading experience than most. her trademarks are very much present, both good (aphorisms like "if you work hard enough at something that doesn't matter, you can forget for a while about the things that do") and the bad (..... incest again?). overall bittersweet to have no more new content to read but knowing that going back to my favorites will be even more rewarding the next time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Self harm
Moderate: Violence and Chronic illness
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: Body horror, parasitic aliens, descriptions of blood and gore, self harm, suicide, abusive mental institutions, abuse/neglect, incest, illness, murder, death of a parent, miscarriage mention, still birth mention, street harassment, rape
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler is a collection of fiction and science fiction short stories and two essays. As some of you know, Butler is my favorite author, and I am working on collecting all her works.
Butler has such a unique and poignant way of writing aliens. I loved the aliens in Bloodchild for how disturbing they were while also being integrated with human society. Butler always situates humans as the one being taken over and being the lesser beings. This particular story reminded me of her Xenogenesis series.
Speech Sounds was a story about an illness that impairs people in different ways, including destroying the ability of language, spoken and written. It was about finding different ways of communicating. Similarly, Amnesty explore alternate ways of communicating with the plan-like aliens that have come to Earth.
I even enjoyed the two essays included, especially the second essay with tips on writing. This is definitely a collection I will be rereading at some point. I just love absorbing all of Butler's ideas and concepts. I will never stop shouting about Butler's work!
Have you seen that one of Butler's works is going to be a tv show?! You know I'm hyped for it!
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler is a collection of fiction and science fiction short stories and two essays. As some of you know, Butler is my favorite author, and I am working on collecting all her works.
Butler has such a unique and poignant way of writing aliens. I loved the aliens in Bloodchild for how disturbing they were while also being integrated with human society. Butler always situates humans as the one being taken over and being the lesser beings. This particular story reminded me of her Xenogenesis series.
Speech Sounds was a story about an illness that impairs people in different ways, including destroying the ability of language, spoken and written. It was about finding different ways of communicating. Similarly, Amnesty explore alternate ways of communicating with the plan-like aliens that have come to Earth.
I even enjoyed the two essays included, especially the second essay with tips on writing. This is definitely a collection I will be rereading at some point. I just love absorbing all of Butler's ideas and concepts. I will never stop shouting about Butler's work!
Have you seen that one of Butler's works is going to be a tv show?! You know I'm hyped for it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Incest, Chronic illness, Murder, Death of parent, and Rape
Minor: Miscarriage and Child death
cyrinw98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, and Incest
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.
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
tlaynejones's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
I didn’t realise there would be essays, by Butler herself, sharing insights/ her thoughts about many of the stories. I loved the short stories (although some are very dark), and hearing the background or context behind the stories made them even better. Love love love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Self harm, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
katecassi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
most of the stories were really great! but the uh. the romanticized incest story kinda brought the mood down
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest
areadingstan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Another amazing read from Octavia E Butler’s collection, this is a book of short stories she wrote. She says in her foreword that she is a novelist not a writer of short stories, but I was very impressed with the contents and the range of stories she told.
This was my first encounter with Butler’s creation of alien beings and their interactions with humans which I found really interesting and imaginative. There were also some more human-based stories which still placed Butler in the sci-fi category but as always she told stories of humanity, power and survival.
This was my first encounter with Butler’s creation of alien beings and their interactions with humans which I found really interesting and imaginative. There were also some more human-based stories which still placed Butler in the sci-fi category but as always she told stories of humanity, power and survival.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Incest, Miscarriage, and Rape