Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

176 reviews

thevioletfoxbookshop's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Kindred is one of those books that feels like it should be required reading for all Americans. I've never read a book that makes the suffering, the complexities, and the last effects of slavery feel so real and so clear. Octavia Butler has a way of bringing history and the present world awfully close together. The characters feel real, like people you know. And the story is layered in a way that will leave you thinking about the book long after you've finished it. 

This was an absolutely heartbreaking story to read, as it should be. And although it was written in 1979, it makes it very clear that even now (in 2023), the systemic racism, the learned behavior and roles, and the lasting impact of the slavery system in the US is still very present and very real. You realize how easily we might slip backwards and how important it is that we actively and purposefully make change, educate ourselves, and be better.

Beyond being important and valuable work, Kindred is also an incredible story. I was a little afraid that I would struggle through it (like I do with some "classic literature"), but I flew through this book! I found myself having read 20 pages at a time and not even realizing it. You become so invested in the characters and what's going to happen next! Prepare to really feel all the feels in this one!

Kindred is a 5 star read. Absolutely pick this one up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child death, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Torture, and Sexual assault

maaseelulu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Grief, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Rape, Suicide, Vomit, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

lpendergran's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

5.0

This is probably one of the most challenging books I’ve ever read, but I think it’s absolutely necessary for non black people to read this.  Beautifully written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Blood, Rape, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Murder

hunkydory's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

For a work so early in Butler's career, this is a remarkably stunning read. No need, really, to touch upon the now oft-described plot: Butler's aim is the experience--both graphically physical but more psychological: it works its way through our time-traveling narrator and her white husband; it impacts their relationship (alas, not as thoroughly explored as it might have been); but it is one of the first books I've read to explore the nuance of living in a culture of slavery rather than merely stating or claiming the complex challenges.

Butler's liberated (at least for the 1970s) narrator discovers how sinuous the workings of plantation life might well have been, how insidious the rationalizations of submission to authority. And while the book is tightly-written and highly suspenseful, her handling of dialogue and subtler action reveals the various pulls of power humans have over one another, because of and in spite of the power dynamics between them. 

There are no apologies, justifications, or qualifications for slavery and its adherents here. But we instead experience a kind of subjugation and oppression which moves far deeper than the given physicality of this institution. (Now to go see how Hulu has handled it . . . )

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Slavery, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape, Trafficking, Grief, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Vomit, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Death, and Blood

This work directly shows several scenes of nearly every kind of inhumanity from the institution of slavery, though the descriptions fall short of body horror or gore.

jedore's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

"Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.”

When I heard about this book, which is a blend of historical and light science fiction, I was intrigued. I'm a huge fan of the former and interested in reading more of the latter. 

The portrayal of the master-slave relationship was the most powerful aspect of this book for me. The psychology of it all was extremely insightful and educational. So tragic. 

I didn't like the book as much as the majority of the others who have reviewed it or as much as I had hoped. 

For a couple of reasons...

• The dialogue sometimes came across as over-explanatory and preachy. It's distracting to me (in both TV and literature) when characters over explain things to each other. In this case, it made the book feel a bit like Young Adult fiction vs Well-Read Adult Fiction. 
• It was probably intentional on the author's part, but I didn't find any of the characters really lovable. In fact, on numerous occasions, the heroine got on my nerves. 

This book solidified what I already suspected—my highly principled self would not have survived in the time of slavery. I would never have been able to "play along," no matter what my color. My mouth, my actions, or myself would have been the death of me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Rape

Moderate: Infidelity

jesticulate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Rape, Suicide attempt, Child death, Miscarriage, and Racism

gummifrog's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? Yes

5.0

This book was an excellent read - and for myself, as a white person, it was very challenging.  In many places, it was difficult to stomach the violence and emotional pain and abuse slaves were subject to at the hands of their white subjugators.  

Butler makes an effort to explore so many ideas in this - the intimacy of the relationship between these two groups, because there can be intimacy in hatred and distance.  No amount of intimacy can close the gap, though, between the person who keeps you ground under your foot.  Interracial relationships and the comparison and contrast between how they would have existed between both time periods was also a large theme.  

I was most captured by the resilience, cunning, and analytical strength of the main character, Dana.  She feels the guilt of having been born in a period where black people are no longer slaves in the US.  Although she is no less consenting to the horrors she is subject to, she is entrapped in many ways and ultimately chooses to free herself physically - but always with the ramifications of what she went through mentally, leaving behind a piece of herself always in the past.  There is a lot of emotional content and philosophy behind the action Dana takes at the end of the book, and I definitely need some time to sit with it and absorb it.

This is a powerful historical fiction / scifi novel, the precursor to Outlander, but so much more culturally relevant and an absolute must-read.  While reading it, I was surprised about how many people hadn't even heard of it.  This is absolutely a classic that cannot be missed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Torture, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Racism, Vomit, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Slavery, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Gun violence and Rape

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Terminal illness

linneak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Death, Torture, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Trafficking, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

srah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

It's a fascinating premise so I've meant to read this for years and somehow didn't get around to it.  The book keeps you hoping and worrying and thinking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Child death, and Suicide