Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

7 reviews

anditsreal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

I always forget why I love short stories, until I read them again. Butler was a wonderful writer and getting a little glimpse of her mind from her afterwords is a privilege. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Confinement, Medical trauma, Animal death, Death, and Mental illness

kellieligon's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

These short stories and essays are quite different from Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. I think I didn't resonate with so many because I was expecting more in the dytopian/post-apocalyptic realm rather than alien or deep human behavior and understanding. I was pleasantly intrigued by a couple, but then found it very difficult to get some of the others. This might have had a better impact for me if I waited to read this collection after a few more of her better known novels and series. Overall, she still stands as an incredibly thoughtful provoking science fiction author in my book!

Bloodchild 2.5/5
The Evening & the Morning & the Night 4/5
Near of Kin 2/5
Speech Sounds 5/5
Crossover 2/5

Positive Obsession 4/5
Furor Scribebdi 5/5

Amnesty 3.5/5
The Book of Martha 4/5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Incest, Rape, Suicide, Self harm, and Mental illness

lycheejelly's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gun violence, Addiction, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, War, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Grief, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Ableism, Incest, Abortion, Addiction, Bullying, Classism, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Racism

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really love Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler. It's a book of short stories and a few essays by Butler and it's just so damn good. 

My favorite stories in the book are The Evening and The Morning and The Night, Speech Sounds, Amnesty, and The Book of Martha. Although the other stories aren't my favorite, I still think they were very good. 

Overall I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death

Minor: Incest