Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

9 reviews

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

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

readingsofaslinky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

So very excellent! My first Octavia Butler, and I’m now a fan for life ♥️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Suicide attempt, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Blood, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Incest, and Torture

elisanisly's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Incest, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: War and Grief

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

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

adoras's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Slavery, and Xenophobia