Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

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

bonriki's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Slavery, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Incest, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Cannibalism

sydapel's review

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

4.0

I feel like I've been meaning to read Octavia Butler for so long, and boy I'm so glad I bucked up and got on the train. I feel like this book may have been a weird place to start, since it's a prequel to a series that was previously written, but the idea of two immortal beings diving in and out of each others lives was so compelling I couldn't help myself. There's some pretty graphic and taboo stuff that happens on page, but Doro and Anyanwu's contrasting approaches on how to create life and use their gifts creates a incredibly compelling game of tug of war over centuries. Butler writes a fascinating character study on the nature of immortality, power and legacy - this would be such an interesting book to discuss with a group and I, personally am so excited to dive into more of her work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Suicide

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

catsbreadbikes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

What can i say about this book that hasn't been said by people way more qualified than me? Octavia Butler simply doesn't miss. Read all of her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Violence, Grief, and Slavery

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

Minor: Pregnancy and Rape

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

yomireads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

So, as a whole, this book is well written, and its clear that Octavia E Butler has a strong grasp of her craft. Anyanwu and Doror both are well shaped characters with strong wills that clash, neither bending easily to the other. The abilities and the exploration of these otherworldly abilities is captivating to be sure. The dark and keen look at slavery and the loss of autonomy is very intentional and poignant. 

But God was I uncomfortable the entirety of this novel. I'm positive the discomfort is intentional, the fear, rage, and overall frustration simmering just below boiling from the start is intentional, but the obstinate refusal of the clearly villainous Doro to have any sort of real character growth for literal centuries made me want to chuck this book into an ocean.

The incest was obscene. Eugenics at its finest (most disturbing). And the strange pervasive nature of misogyny in characters who can shift their sex at will wildly frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Cannibalism, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

megwilli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Incest

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting