Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Mind of my Mind by Octavia E. Butler

19 reviews

storyorc's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Few prequels are able to turn their prequelness into such a roaring advantage. Since we already know the general trajectory of this world, the narrative is under none of the usual pressures to keep this collection of telepath's powers modest, controlled, or even particularly under wraps. This allows it to really dig into what telepaths could do to our society - or more broadly, what people with unanswerable power can do. Having one telepath positioned above the rest only adds nuance to the power structure. A lot of books will soften their hypothetical scenarios by making the powerful side pure evil or making a vigilante beloved by the people to excuse their extrajudicial violence but Butler does not shy away from the complications of her setup. There is a very specific horror in watching people grow accustomed to - even happy with - a lack of freedom. The greater good of society vs freedom of the individual tension is acutely felt. This gave me a similar mounting dread on the ideological level as the 2024 Dune II film.

Even as the book generates this great and horrible sense of hurtling toward tragedy on the macro scale, my ignorance of the details of the original novel kept me on the edge of my seat in regards to  the fates of certain characters. Doro is still the monster from Wild Seed but also still not without love and loneliness and a very human arrogance. Butler excels in seeding the reader with an insidious pride and curiosity in his millennia-spanning project despite its sickening cost simply because there is no-one else reaching as high as he is. Mary is easier to root for, but prone to an equally human pettiness, bitterness, and that same arrogance. She is no benevolent dictator, much as she might wish to be, and her abilities amplify her little cruelties through her impressive creations in fascinating ways. In the end, they are all just people struggling with issues far bigger than any single person should be. It makes the book hard to put down. Thankfully, the novel's final gift is that it's pretty short.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Misogyny and Racism

larbster90's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Slavery, Abandonment, Incest, and Medical content

Minor: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

kenrya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Incest, Slavery, Alcoholism, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexism, Child abuse, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

rebcamuse's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

In this second installment of Octavia Butler's Patternmaster/Patternist series (but written second after 1976's Patternmaster (#3 in the series)), we see that Doro's breeding/inbreeding program has continued, and his efforts are now focused on his daughter Mary, a biracial woman from a poor neighborhood whose telepathic ability surpasses even Doro's expectations. Doro has Mary wed Karl Larkin*, another telepath, whose abilities are strong, but don't quite equal Mary's. (*I'd be curious to know if there is any significance to Larkin being both this character's last name and the protagonist's daughter in Parable of the Talents.

After enjoying Wild Seed, I admit that the jump in time left me a bit disappointed because I really wanted to continue the story of Anyanwu and Doro, and while the former is present in this book, her story is no longer centered. However, there is a nice parallelism in how Mary gains the upper hand (NOT with the same ramifications) as Anyanwu does in the first book. Anyanwu compromised and interrogated Doro's status as the antagonist at times, and that happens less in Mind of My Mind, although the characters are have the trademark multidimensionality that Butler did so well. We briefly meet one of the characters who is a significant reference in the next book in the series, Clay's Ark, which I've already read.

Robin Miles's performance offers a certain even-handedness that serves the narrative well, as well as the characters of Mary and Doro. There were times where things felt a little too flat, but also underscored the amount of mind control happening at any given moment.

Overall it is a worthy sequel to Wild Seed and while I have not read the entire series, I think it is likely an important "origin story" that explains the "Patternists" who are one of the major groups featured in Patternmaster, the last book chronologically (though published first).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Incest, and Slavery

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Slavery, Incest, Infidelity, Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Medical content, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident

featherwoman's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, and Toxic relationship

reginacattus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Very compelling, a rich and interesting lore. Haven't come across a "superpowers" story like it. A harsh and brutal world filled with harsh and brutal characters, but also a sense of community that grows between the characters over time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Incest, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Adult/minor relationship

nidzi_c's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Child abuse

Minor: Incest, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

💬: "Had human life ever mattered to Doro beyond his interest in human husbandry? Could a creature who had to look upon ordinary people literally as food and shelter ever understand how strongly those people valued life?

Butler, Octavia E.. Mind of My Mind (The Patternist Series Book 2) (p. 48). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: adult, science fiction, speculative fiction

📚Page Count: 218

🎧Audiobook Length: 08h 23min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5 

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Mind of my Mind is the second book in the Patternist series by Octavia E. Butler. I think it's my least favorite out of the series, along with Patternmaster. 

This is the story of a few of Doro's children, but in particular, this is the story of Doro's child Mary. From a young age Doro could tell that Mary would have immense power after she psychically transitioned so he decides that he wants to ensure her protection. 

Eventually, after her transition,  Mary grew to develop what's known as The Pattern, which is a psychic avenue that telepaths can use connect with each other. Mary develops this "Pattern" and then proceeds to gather some of Doro's active telepaths from around the country. After collecting a few active telepaths Mary decided to connect with lantents, people who have psychic potential but they're not active telepaths. 

After Mary connects with the actives and latents, well things start to get messy. I won't spoil anything for you, I'll just say that this is honestly worth the read even if I didn't like it as much as some of the other Patternist novels. 

This is my second time reading Mind of My Mind and I honestly enjoyed the story more the second time around. I gave Mind of My Mind a 4 out of 5 the first time I read it, this time I'm going to give it a 4.5 out of 5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Incest, Child death, Death, and Pregnancy

chloegrell's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Incest, Child death, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Hate crime, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault