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jsheffer01's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
triangulartoaster'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
christinecc'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
Without getting into spoilers beyond, say, the first chapter: our main character Dana is a young black woman in her twenties, living with her husband in the 1970s. One day, without warning, she feels ill and suddenly slips into the past, where she saves a young boy's life. Turns out she went back to Maryland during the early 19th century, which is... not a great place to be, particularly if you are not white and there are plantations nearby.
Over multiple trips, Dana gets to know the boy, named Rufus, whose father owns the plantation. I won't get into it more than that, but the big takeaway for me was the author's depiction of the main character's experience in the past, and how you can never understand an experience until it happens to you. The book shows us how Dana, who admits she used to judge the house slaves who (to her) seemed complacent and complicit with their slavers, comes to understand the choices these people made under the constant and real threat of danger and the strange, toxic dynamic where the persecuted and persecutors can't survive without each other.
The book also highlights similarities (just similarities, mind you, since the situations are not identical) between a slave who endures the unimaginable to survive and a woman whose partner beats her. Dana's cousin tells her she would never allow a man to hit her, but we know that the psychology and experience of domestic abuse is more complicated than "allowing" someone to hit you. That's pretty close to what Dana comes to understand by the end of the book. You can't capture that psychology in a single sentence. It's too horrific and complex. And as the book continues, and as Dana (in her own words) forgives those who brutalize her (specifically the boy Rufus), I realized I couldn't understand Dana, but I knew WHY I couldn't understand her. The same way Dana couldn't understand people in her situation before. It happens before we can notice it and before anyone can stop it.
Recommended as an incredible story, regardless of whether you read science-fiction or historical fiction, with a lot of trigger warnings for distressing violence, slavery & racism, and sexual assault, but it's never gratuitous, and Butler reportedly set the story in the Northeast because she knew things were even more violent farther down south and she didn't think a general audience could stomach the horrific reality (and, to her credit, she absolutely refused to tone down a depiction of slavery in the south, so Maryland was the compromise).
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, and Self harm
Minor: Body horror
booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Sexual violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
book_moth'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Miscarriage, Child death, and Child abuse
moonlit_paperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
carissa230'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
The book was a compelling read. It was interesting to see how quickly she and her husband began to accept the differences in their realities. Slavery doesn't "seem that bad" at first, but it quickly becomes clear that there are serious issues that the people are forced to endure. Dana tries to make Rufus a better person that his father, but it quickly becomes apparent that he is a product of his time. All she can do is try to make him less of a monster.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Murder
Minor: Death and Death of parent
lizgo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
chig_flicks'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
mazomazli's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide attempt