Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

20 reviews

sharonmalonza's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

My favorite short stories:
- The evening and the morning and the night
- Speech Sounds
- The Book of Martha

I loved this. And I can't wait to own a copy of my own and reread them. Already know someone I'd want to gift this to. It's also such a treat to hear from Octavia after each short story. She was such a fascinating individual. I love how her mind worked. It's such a privilege to have access to her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Violence

Minor: Incest

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

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Violence, Incest, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, War, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Pregnancy

bookinsect's review against another edition

challenging dark

4.5

• Octavia butler DOES NOT MISS
• featuring classic hits such as incest, sketchy/no consent, future scenarios that are incredibly depressing and not that crazy of a stretch (cannot remember all the things that need to be tw’s but theres quite a few)
• Really liked how in my copy there were little afterwords for each story by octavia butler, found out the reason why shes fascinated with incest is from biblical stories growing up (what i wouldnt give to have a long conversation with this woman)
• Bloodchild itself didnt fully live up to the hype for me but it was still cool
• Favourite stories included: the evening the morning and the night, SPEECH SOUNDS (5 stars), and amnesty 
• Also both essays were good!!
• This collection is definitely on the darker side of her writing so be warned

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Incest

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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Self harm

Moderate: Violence and Chronic illness

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

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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.

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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

therefugeofbooks's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Rape, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Kidnapping