Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

36 reviews

kenrya's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I love the writing, but I hate one of the main characters. I am eager to finish this series and move on to a new world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Trafficking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Racial slurs, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

bilal_shumuus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gore, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Body horror, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Infidelity, Animal death, Genocide, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: War, Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Slavery, Child abuse, Infertility, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

jalexpulliamkepler's review

challenging dark slow-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

3.75

complex but lacked the tension to be truly engaging. It honestly feels like the prologue of a different story (which it kinda is)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Slavery, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Classism, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Physical abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, and Death of parent

cg07's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Incest, Racism, Murder, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Colonisation, and Child death

pinakamataas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.25

This was an almost 5⭐️ read for me. And mostly the rating went up from the contrast to previously reading the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. 

This was a gripping piece that can make you question anyone’s sanity, it deals with truly dark subject matter, so I would not lightheartedly suggest it to anyone, but to those who were deeply disappointed by Addie LaRue, and maybe because it hinted at darkness it definitely didn’t deliver, this will in spades. But it’s unfair to make this review mentioning both books, because this clearly stands on its own.

I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the next instalments of the Patternmaster (soon or if ever), because it gave me something (or took something from me) that I will need a while to recover.

Doro is and will be one of the most disturbing characters who must kill, and yet kills for pleasure as well. Throughout the book he goes through so much character (I can’t say development) change, that it’s admirable (in spite of everything), and here if he says he loves someone, as a reader you understand that love is nothing romantic and while it’s disturbing and with very little humanity, it is not a lie.

Anyanwu Is the character that teased me with the potential 5⭐️ rating, and in the end while I didn’t hate the place she ended up in the book, approximately 5% before the final reveal of the ending I exclaimed to myself “She WON” and while she didn’t lose the battle with Doro, she definitely didn’t win it either, and it was a huge disappointment to me. Some people might not have that reaction.
Anyanwu sometimes feels like an even more interesting character than Doro while she goes through a lot less character development, her development was more along the lines of the power over her abilities and coming into her own power, but otherwise she is a strong willed character, that I admired a lot of the time.

Anyanwu and Doro play this very separate black and white, yin/yang, good and evil dual POV, and during the course of the book the roles soften, and this feels like the beginning of Doro’s future journey where he has embraced a lot more greyness. And in a way, he ended the book a little less dark than he began it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Medical trauma, Slavery, and Emotional abuse

faynebrio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-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? Yes

5.0

man. first time reading octavia butler and her writing is so engaging, i was invested immediately. 
this is an extremely emotional tale of abuse that won't be for everyone. also i dont know how i feel about some of the gender things that are put forward. however butler is veryy smart in the way she deals with complex politics. Im definitely going to read the rest of the books in this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, Slavery, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, and Incest

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery

Minor: Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Anyanwu and Doro are powerful, immortal, godlike beings who may or may not be human. What a wild, up and down ride with a slow burn satisfying (?) payoff. It was a lot of fun seeing the ways that Anyanwu challenged Doro, and I loved the insight we got into her body-focused powers (which reminded me of the Ooloi from Butler’s Xenogenesis saga). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abandonment, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Medical content, Incest, Rape, Grief, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

antimonium's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book gave me the ick. Don't like the whole breeding thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, and Racism