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lacyparrish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Colonisation
leabhar_love's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Cancer and War
abbytait's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
And I can honestly say, it’s one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. It was compelling and uncomfortable and unnerving, and explored themes I never really thought about (cue interspecies reproduction). The writing is so vivid even when you kind of don’t want it to be? A really interesting piece of work that will leave me thinking for awhile.
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
eaird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Rape, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident
jnl00700's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement and Rape
Moderate: Sexism and Pregnancy
miandrade's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Violence, and Gaslighting
biblio_jordyn's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
I binged this book in a day.
I found it to be interesting & exciting & weird in the best way!
The way the author built the world in the novel mixing in the familiar with the unfamiliar was great, especially for a novice sci-fi reader, like myself.
AND WAIT THERE’S MORE...
This book was first published in 87, so before reading I did have some concerns on some societal ideas it may have... BUT, I was completely shocked/pleased with how before it’s time it was regarding nonbinary identity.
The author writes:
“It’s wrong to assume that I must be a sex you’re familiar with.”
And then later when someone refuses to acknowledge that a being does not fit into a sex?
“..a kind of deliberate, persistent ignorance.”
In 1987 with these ideas that are still so relevant?!?! YES I AM HERE FOR IT.
Also, the fact that the beings that don’t conform to the gender roles are aliens and it was an alien concept at the time that this was written? That’s cool.
I will say the non-binary beings weren’t referred to as they/them but It, so just a warning it’s not perfect, but it did seem like a choice by those people.
This book was thought provoking & different!
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Child death and Rape
kirkspockreads's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
justinlife's review against another edition
- 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
This is a beautiful, fascinating start to a series. It's post apocalyptic, it's alien invasion, it's futuristic. It's brilliant. This is one of those books that feels hard to describe without giving away a lot. Humans wrecked the earth and the remaining were abducted by aliens to study and rebuild the planet. Lilith is the protagonist, a black woman who lost her family before the war and is tasked with adjusting to the alien species and ensuring that other humans can survive in the new earth.
One thing I appreciated about the novel was how alien the aliens are. They aren't too humanoid. Butler describes them over and over again as frightening and disgusting. It's also interesting what qualities she gives the aliens that she doesn't give her humans. I appreciate all that a reader can take from this book- a discussion on colonialism, the strength of the human spirit, women in power, black women in power, consent, genetic manipulation, power dynamics. There's so much here.
This is a great start to a series and I look forward to reading the next two. Butler's prose is sharp and keeps the pacing moving quickly. This is a book that once you start, you might not want to put down.
Warning: Sexual assault, violence, consent
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Racism
demo's review against another edition
3.0
This book was recommended to me as it ticked a few boxed of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. Sci-fi is not a genre I ordinarily read or enjoy. I find invented alien races and their languages inherently contrived (sorry) which makes it hard for me to finish a novel. I was intrigued, though, by a sci-fi novel written by a woman of colour. I was told Butler's work used alien races to explore issues such as xenophobia, paternalism and colonialism instead of fetishising them or using them as a vehicle to assert human domination. This she does brilliantly, and her work is definitely unlike any other sci-fi work I have consumed through any medium.
Sadly, I found Lilith intolerable. The first half of the book? Awesome! But once she started to Awaken other humans? Hmm. I tried to find sympathy for her (perhaps the ooloi bonds are similar to a trauma bond or Stockholm Syndrome?) but after she was complicit and even took "perverse pleasure" in Joseph's coerced rape by Nikhanj I just couldn't stick by her. To go from "There'll be no rape here" to that? Nope. Sorry. You lost me Lilith. That's fucked. (If you're not sure what I'm taking about, this article breaks it down really well.)
To be fair, I don't think Octavia Butler wanted me to walk away from this book feeling jolly and content. It was meant to be disturbing. Perhaps her intention was to let us feel our convictions, projecting no explicit moral judgement of her own. I just can't help but feel that not clarifying that scene was indeed sexual assault is reckless. Another reviewer here said she thought Butler crossed a line in the last quarter of the book, and I think I agree.
In terms of writing style, the narration was a little repetitive and limited, and the range of human reactions was pretty much isolated to shrugging and jumping. That said, Butler's sensory descriptions of the ship were vivid. The novel was artfully well-paced (something I truly appreciate) and I was compelled to finish it, even though I stopped liking it.
I so wanted to love this book and I think after spending some time thinking about it I may grow to like it. I think I need to untangle my dislike of Lilith from my dislike of the book itself. Undecided as to whether I'll read the next two. I probably will, but not for some time. It's not light reading, that's for sure.
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, and Sexual assault