Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

17 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

sp0resdruid's review

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

4.75

Amazing. Once again using the lens of horror to examine issues of race and consent and ownership while setting the story among one of the hardest periods in human history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Slavery, Racism, and Racial slurs

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

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Mental illness, Death, Racism, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death, Abortion, Infertility, Sexual content, Blood, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Racial slurs

zozoisgolden's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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

I could write an essay on this book. Gosh, I fucking loved this so much. 

Longer review to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Trafficking

rlgreen91's review against another edition

challenging 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

Alright, so even though I finished this book over a month ago, life got in the way of jotting down some thoughts.  And y'all, I promise I did have a lot of thoughts about Wild Seed, but honestly, that's par for the course when it comes to Butler's work.  I have yet to come across a text she wrote that didn't expect you to think.

So...a month or so later, what thoughts continue to elbow their way to the front when I think of this book?  For one, I really liked how Butler depicted Doro and Anyanwu as these nigh immortal, long-lived beings, especially in moments of boredom, without the depiction itself being boring and repetitive.  It's hard to put my finger on it, but something about the characterization of Doro and Anyanwu seems more "lively" than your typical characterization of a god, or vampire, or person who accidentally becomes immortal, or what have you.  And again, this perception exists, even in moments where Doro or Anyanwu are reflecting on the boredom and fatigue that accompanies living for so long.  It's fascinating because it's so skillful.

The other thought that continues to come to the forefront of my mind is my appreciation for Anyanwu as a lead character whose skills and personality focus on healing and nurturing.  This is partly due to a personal preference for shifting away from achievement as domination and competition to collaboration and care.  But I also appreciate that, for all Doro could not see or imagine it, Anyanwu's efforts to heal, nurture, and care for the people around her was a choice.  After all, it wasn't like Anyanwu wasn't capable of killing anyone or inflicting pain; we see her do just that a number of times in the book.  There's no reason why Anyanwu couldn't have been more ruthless, more dangerous, more deadly, especially in societies that would assume she was powerless by default.  But Anyanwu chose to do what she could to care, nurture, and heal the people around her and that is no small thing.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wild Seed, but I say that about everything I ready by Butler, so not that surprising. :) Looking forward to getting to Mind of My Mind soon-ish. 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Incest, Suicide, Body horror, Colonisation, and Slavery

amerily123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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: Rape, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

m_petranoff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

Moderate: War, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Like many of Butler's books, this is a challenging look at the nature of humanity. It is dark and about how easy it can be to lose ones humanity, but not as challenging to read as some of her other novels. There are a lot of content warnings, and only a few are graphic, but the theme of the book itself is engaging with challenging themes.