Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Bloodchild and Other Stories

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler

13 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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nica_chan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

ahhh, octavia e. butler, quanto è stato piacevole fare la tua conoscenza!!!

essendo questo libro una raccolta di racconti, ho avuto l’onore di vedere butler brillare in più storie diverse, e alcune che hanno colpita più di altre; in particolare le mie preferite sono state “la sera, il giorno e la notte”, “fonemi” e “il libro di martha”.

scoprire la prima scrittrice donna Nera del genere fantascientifico alla mia età di 24 anni per me è una rivelazione. in 200 pagine, butler mi ha insegnato che non bisogna essere maschi bianchi per immaginarsi mondi fantastici, utopie o alieni arrivati sulla terra (anche se è ciò che sembra dal mondo della fantascienza mainstream).

grazie octavia, non vedo l’ora di leggere anche i tuoi romanzi, tra cui “legami di sangue” e “la parabola del seminatore”.

ps: la fantascienza non è il mio genere, ma la penna, bravura e dedizione di butler rende piacevole ogni suo scritto

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moon_dude's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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lycheejelly's review against another edition

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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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trips's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Its been quite a while since I've read Butler. And wow, I forgot how she had these crazy ideas come out of her head and turned them into compelling, beautifully written stories. Some of her stories made me shudder, and some made me reflect on what I had just written in a way no other book has done in a while.
I don't really want to spoil anything, so here is how I felt about each story in a few words:

Blood Child: Oh wow, that is terrifying.
The Evening And The Morning And The Night: Creepy, yet made me feel empathy towards the characters.
Near of Kin: Eh? Huh?...Why?
Speech Sounds: Powerful in an unexpected way.
Cross over: Haunting.
Positive Obsession: I loved this!
Furor Scribendi: Beautiful and helpful!
Amnesty: What did I just read??
The Book of Martha: I wonder how it would work!

That is all I will say. I hope to read more Butler in the months to come, her words are always so powerful and gripping to me.

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alspacedout's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

A mostly great mixed bag! Favorites: Bloodchild, Speech Sounds, and Amnesty (plus the author essays).
Least Favorites: Crossover by a good margin, can't remember what happened in it for the life of me, even after rereading the afterword to try to spark my memory.

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