Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

11 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.

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

jakobvongunten's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Gore

Moderate: Incest, Ableism, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Body horror

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

doctorw0rm's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Body horror, Chronic illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Incest, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use

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

katie_k1's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Gore

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

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

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