Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

41 reviews

chaotic_aly's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

frida_epilogo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

edensbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Colonisation

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I read Parable of the Sower last year and immediately knew that I needed more Octavia Butler in my life. How had I been sleeping on her for this long? Part of the issue is that I don’t really consider myself a science fiction reader, which is what Butler’s books are generally classified as. But I am a fan of speculative fiction and dystopian fiction, and in Butler’s version of sci-fi, there’s considerable overlap with these genres. So, in addition to being a glowing review, this is also a PSA to try reading genres you sometimes don’t consider. And if you’ve never read anything by Octavia Butler, please do so post haste. 

Let’s get the scary sci-fi part out of the way: there are aliens in this book. And while the aliens are a major factor, please know that this is so much more than a book about aliens. More than anything, it’s a book about humans, what it means to be human, and at what point in the evolutionary process does what we are fundamentally change?

Dawn was written in the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, and it shows. Butler has a knack for looking at the world and imagining the long term consequences if we continue on our current trajectory. This book raises big questions. Does being human mean that we are destined to destroy ourselves? What are the ethical ramifications of animal research, breeding, and genetic modification? And, what price is too high to save our world?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Car accident, and War

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Eins der faszinierendsten Bücher, die ich je gelesen habe. Ein Science-Ficton Buch, dass unglaublich wichtig Themen in der Gesellschaft durch einen neuen  Blickwinkel anspricht: Geschlecht/Gender/Sex, sexuelle Gewalt und körperliche Autonomie, romantische Beziehungen, Kolonisierung, Hierarchien in der Gesellschaft und Ausgrenzung. 
Es ist unglaublich gut geschrieben. Manchmal weiß man nicht was richtig oder falsch, was gut was böse und was gerechtfertigt und was unverzeihlich ist. 
Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall empfehlenswert, man sollte sich aber vorher die Triggerwarings anschauen.
Die deutsche Übersetzung ist ganz okay, sollte aber bezüglich der Pronomen nochmal überarbeitet werden.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, and Car accident

shoohoob's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I think this book solidified that I am not a sci-fi/fantasy reader. My brain is just not built for the world-building. 

That being said, this book was fascinating. It was deeply uncomfortable, unsettling, and infuriating to read at times. It’s so interesting that way you almost want to root for both the Oankali and Lilith, but both make it so hard. 

Octavia Butler does such a wonderful job commenting on colonization, xenophobia, and even gender in this book. I found myself referring to the ooloi as he/him but Lilith’s commentary on other people’s reactions to it really put a mirror in my face. 

That being said, I’m not sure that I’ll continue the series. I was almost too uncomfortable and I didn’t really find myself caring about what happens to the characters. I connected more to the commentary than the actual story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

docchia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.5

Some parts were disturbing, but I loved it. Will be reading more of this series/author. Gave it a half-star off because of chosen-one trope that serves the narrative but is nevertheless infuriating to read. Otherwise, a flawless story that drew me in from the first chapter and 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lacyparrish's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• 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

I read this for a Patreon-hosted book club. Being the first in a triology, it does decent worldbuilding, but I'm not so sure that it has the pacing to keep me going in the series. Not bad, not great ... I will have to wait a bit to decide if I will continue with the other two books. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Colonisation

leabhar_love's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

eaird's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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