Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

843 reviews

geometryprime's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Racial slurs, Rape, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, Torture, Slavery, Colonisation, Abandonment, Suicide, Self harm, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Misogyny, and Hate crime

mareltor's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

W. O. W. This book left me grappling with so many feelings. She really didn’t hold back. This book didn’t go the way I imagined it would, but it’s more impactful because of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Bullying, Death, Murder, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Vomit, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Excrement, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Cursing

megshrews's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Slavery, Racism, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

staylor2187's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Suicide and Torture

claraofthewood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, Body horror, Racial slurs, Blood, Child abuse, Slavery, and Sexual assault

ruyireads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

elyssam's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Kindred is such an interesting book with a creative concept. It was hard to read, but so worth it. At first, I naïvely felt hopeful, but soon realized Butler was not going to give us a romanticized history lesson. Within this fictitious world are the hard truths of American slavery and it's scar on our history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

noonjinx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I thought this was OK but not amazing. Toni Morrison’s Beloved was far more upsetting and thought provoking.

The antagonist is unpleasant and petty and does some awful things but doesn’t really have any sort of character arc. Because of his relationship with the protagonist I thought he might redeem himself but it never happened. Maybe Butler was trying to show how ordinary and natural slavery felt to white people.

Also, the science fiction element is very light, not really explored, and ultimately pointless. The idea of a mixed race 20th century couple dropped into a 19th century slave plantation is really interesting but I never really believed how they reacted or how they were treated.

I felt like Butler thought of a cool idea but then didn’t know where to go with it, ending up stuck in a melodrama. For me, that’s the worst sort of science fiction and this would have worked better as a historical story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Rape

kumquatlemon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Rape