Reviews tagging 'Death'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

260 reviews

martinza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It is about usa southern states slavery, it is hard to read, it is very good. The time travel element brought it emotionally much closer to me in contrast to a „it was a long time ago - it was very bad“ story. The only well used time travel in any story I can remember at the moment. A focus is on different kinds of human relations in the context of slavery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Body horror, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, and Suicide

kelseyr713's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Fantastic, haunting, thought-provoking. I appreciate the starkness of Octavia Butler's writing style. I interpret the time travel as a metaphor for generational trauma - no matter how far removed someone might be from their past, it's in their very essence and requires work to overcome. There is a lot to contemplate here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death of parent, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Blood, Racism, Child abuse, Medical content, Gore, Self harm, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol

erinwolf1997's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Rape, and Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

jetski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Racism

maeverose's review against another edition

4.5

I really do not have the words to properly review this. This book was just so good. I stayed up till 5am to finish it and should really be sleeping 😅

I love time travel stories and I think using that trope to discuss slavery in this way is so genius. It felt so real. The characters felt believable, particularly Rufus who was a very nuanced antagonist. Someone you could totally picture actually existing in that time. This was different than I expected in that I assumed Dana would have to be more covert and keep it a secret that she was from the future, but I think it was much more interesting this way. Alice’s story was so heartbreaking. I didn’t think it would go that way.

I think if you can handle the heavy content, you should read this. Especially if you’re a white American.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Ableism, Child abuse, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Police brutality

Drowning, Brief but graphic description of a violent birth in which both the mother and child are murdered. The ableism actually comes from Dana and Kevin, who use the r slur and act as if being mentally disabled is such a horrible thing. Dana also refers to being deaf as a ‘defect’.

moonlitemuseum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Phenomenal. Brutal. Precise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Deportation, Hate crime, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Child death, Grief, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Emotional abuse

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Self harm, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, and Slavery

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Bullying, Colonisation, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Gore, Abandonment, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

book_voyager's review against another edition

4.0

A great and terrible book. All the violence (check the CW and add several more) made it difficult to read, and at some point I was just hoping Dana didn’t need to time travel anymore.

4 stars because Dana’s actions were somewhat repetitive, and nothing changed much during her travels (except the setting).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Rape

jj_tj's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Slavery, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail