Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

66 reviews

sandralaurentino's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Slavery, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood, Hate crime, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Death

tlycomfort's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Rape, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Body horror

ewwniamh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Racism, Racial slurs, Blood, Gore, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, and Chronic illness

yourpal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Absolutely incredible, definitely worth the read. It’s a painful one to be sure but unbelievably well written. It pulls you in and doesn’t let you go and you definitely won’t want it to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Vomit, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Rape, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Alcohol, Abandonment, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Death, Child death, and Child abuse

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

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

This is my first Octavia E. Butler's work and I am so excited to explore more of her writing. I really enjoyed reading Kindred and thought it offered a really challenging and tense environment throughout the whole book. There is absolutely no messing around, and you are taken immediately into the time-travelling realm. I have no experience with time travel with my previous books, but I did agree with the foreword, in that Butler has such a seemingly effortless way to bring in time travel to the scenes. 

One message of the novel that was very reflective, which is noted by the characters themselves, is how quickly people can adapt to societal attitudes. Transporting back to the slave trade in 1815 meant that Dana had to adapt to living as an enslaved woman and one message that is really dominant is the idea that it is easy to slip into those societal norms, especially in a life-or-death situation. The dialogue was written so honestly here, and I felt that frustration alongside Dana.

This book does have some hard-hitting and raw descriptions of slavery, so please read the trigger warnings. However, if you can stomach gore/slavery etc., then this is an essential read. I think Butler's prose is blunt and honest which alludes to just some of the horror of the time. It is purposefully uncomfortable to read but Butler creates such a strong and absorbing atmosphere. 

One criticism I do have is mainly about the structure of the book, although I can absolutely see why it has been written this way. The chapters were very long, and split into smaller parts. Each chapter reflects a specific part of Dana's time travel and so it is understandable that the structure follows closely to Dana's experience. I did find it harder to keep going at times because of this, but the story was so engaging it didn't put me off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Rape, Slavery, Gore, Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Self harm, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

whatcassiedid's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

I enjoyed this for the most part but the ending felt like it was a little sudden and I wish it had explained things a bit more. Kevin sucks shit and Rufus is a real garbage fire of a human being. I'm curious to see the tv adaptation and how it works out

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Medical content

iona_kai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Racism, and Physical abuse

jessreadreceipts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Racism, Murder, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

bisexualwentworth'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

Holy fuck. This book was incredible. I have thoughts that I might articulate at some point, but that’s not happening right now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Incest, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Rape