Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

178 reviews

sup3r_xn0va_maya'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

💬:“Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors had to put up with more than I ever could. Much more. You know what I mean.”

Butler, Octavia. Kindred (p. 51). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, classics, time travel, fiction

📚Page Count: 264

🎧Audiobook Length: 10hrs 55mins

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

Kindred is largely regarded as Octavia E. Butler's magnum opus, or in other words, her most famous and important book. This book is harrowing and it always keeps me on the edge of my seat. This book is about a Black woman from the 1970's be thrusted back in time to the antebellum south, around 1815.

Kindred was an entire experience for me. As a Black woman, this book was terrifying, the thought of going back to the antebellum south, in an era where we as Black people had no rights to speak of. Dana went through so much in this book because Octavia E Butler does not shy away from putting her characters through the wringer to prove several points. 

This book was just phenomenal! It's so hard to believe that this was written in 1979. It could have as easily been written in 1980 or 2015. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
5/5

I listened to this audiobook on [Libro.fm]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Body horror, Self harm, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Death, Cursing, and Sexism

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Medical content, Rape, Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

jenmcreads's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is one of those books that is so good you lose any access to words trying to describe it. The word that comes up most for me is visceral. The experience of reading this book was so visceral for me. I think this does an incredible job of showing both individual responsibility in the midst of horrifying injustices (in this case, slavery, so among the very worst imaginable), however also emphasizing the way individuals can get swept up in such a large system. The narration was clear that individuals (such as Rufus) were not solely responsible for the overwhelming brutality and injustice of the system, but it also did not exonerate the characters for the acts they were responsible for. Something about this book more than anything I have ever read really drove home the relentless and lifelong brutality of life for those who were enslaved in the antebellum South, and while horrifying, this was a truly remarkable read. I feel so dumb trying to write about this book, just read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Self harm, Classism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Rape, Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Incest, Gaslighting, Gore, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Sexism, Blood, Hate crime, and Racial slurs

bookish_bry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

This was honestly an amazing book. I was very impressed by the characters' portrayals. The plot in the end was a rather straightforward one (despite the complications of time travel), but the characters and relationships were so very complicated and well written.

Rufus was such a complex character who we saw grow from a helpless toddler to an irredeemable man. And we can imagine similar stories having happened to his parents. We watched the world poison him and we watched him poison the world in turn. His and Dana's relationship was so... human. At the end, he was irredeemable in mine and Dana's eyes, but he never stopped being human.

Butler didn't shy away from having messy, very human characters. It's often common for people to completely dehumanize slave owners, which is fair! They did horrible horrible things, but by pretending they were not human, it is easy to distance ourselves from them. It's easier to pretend people today would have never possibly been capable of those things if they'd been born into that time. It makes it easier to turn away from things that are happening now because we couldn't be evil because those people weren't real people. 

On the other side, it's easy to wonder why people allowed these things to happen. We find ourselves wondering why slaves didn't stand up in mass and overwhelm their masters as one. Yet, Butler engages with this too.

Through Dana, we saw her make concessions to this world she was thrust into. We saw her walk that line between surviving and keeping a kernel of her true self alive. In the end, she drew the line in the sand, killing the child turned man who she had such a complicated relationship with. We saw it in other slaves too. We saw it in everyone from Sara to Nigel as they gave pieces of themselves to retain what little they had. Even Alice, much like Dana, eventually stole back her freedom, but in a very different way than Dana.

Butler's portrayal of all of these people as flawed, often very flawed humans, was very impressive.

I think

Dana loosing her arm and the book as a whole really was a perfect metaphor for how slavery still leaves its permanent marks on our society. It reaches through time and bites at us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit

whatevanreads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Excuse my language…but HOLY. FUCK. This is one of the biggest Five Stars I’ve ever given any book. Octavia Butler was a pioneer, a genius, and one hell of a writer. Kindred is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve ever read. 

Let’s start with the basis of the novel itself - time traveling between “modern day” and the antebellum south was quite the juxtaposition and unlike anything I’ve read before. The way Butler deftly interlaced both time periods from Dana’s POV was masterful. Her writing is so immersive, I almost felt like I was with Dana throughout her constant journey back and forth. 

As perfect as the writing, plot, and characterization all were, the content, however, is abhorrent, brutal, triggering, and violent as Dana has to witness first-hand and experience herself the atrocities committed against enslaved people. I physically cringed, jumped, and shook with anger more times than I could count. 

There’s so much more I want to say, and I’ll more than likely come back to this review in the next few days to more concisely put my thoughts down. I’m still on the high of finishing this masterpiece…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

books4escaping's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

Really liked - The story kept me fully engaged and I really enjoyed the story, but something bugged me or was missing to award a 5-star rating.  Well worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

hramona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

I am somewhat stunned. This is the first Butler book I’ve read and I am struggling to find the words but I am crying and I am in awe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

historianvik's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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

4.75

What a powerful book. Truly incredible and insightful. The book had so much suspense I had to get up and walk around while listening ay times. The plot and characters were all very good. I learned a lot and I'm glad I've read this book. Many many heavy topics so check content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide

chrisandrews's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

grove9ruby's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Suicide, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, Alcohol, Self harm, Rape, Racial slurs, Murder, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Child death

Minor: Grief, Addiction, and Religious bigotry