Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

64 reviews

mishnah's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual violence

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

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

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

kbbru's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Xenophobia, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Dysphoria, Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

sarahrosea's review against another edition

challenging dark 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: Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Death, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Self harm, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Ableism, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest

kirstyreads's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Self harm, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Suicide

rlgreen91's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

 This was a book that I wrestled with. Each time I picked it up, I had this feeling of wanting to and actually enjoying it that warred with this feeling of how heavy the truths it laid bare are.

I'm sure there are tons of literature out there about this novel and the idea of power, and what it means to have power over another person, and how that intersects with the racial hierarchies of the U.S. I'm also sure that there is a lot of literature about this novel and what it means to love someone, and how that works or doesn't in terms of power dynamics. I think the parallel Butler drew between Rufus and Kevin was an insightful critique of how our view of marriage is subject to the same feelings of love as possession and ownership, regardless of whether the characters believe they are equal.

I do want to say that I think this novel, along with Toni Morrison's A Mercy, does a great job of showing how a person is influenced by their culture, and that since a society is set up to incentivize certain behaviors, how difficult it is to get a single person to act in a different way. Rufus Weylin, like Morrison's Jacob Vaark, is a man of his time, who reconciles himself to the practices of his time, even if there's some initial resistance. But, we also see them take the occasional action that goes outside of what the society and culture of the time dictate. That doesn't necessarily mean that he should be absolved of his cruel actions - and is beside the point. Similarly, Weylin's departure from how other slaveowners act, including his own father, isn't enough on its own to dismantle the whole system of slavery. But those departures make a difference in someone's life - notably Hagar's, and Dana's, although for good or bad it's hard to say. 

One other thing I liked about this novel was a bit of truth-telling, when Dana forced Rufus to confront that he was responsible for what happened to Alice. It reminds me of Butler's short story "Bloodchild", when Gan is honest about what it would mean to volunteer his sister for what has up to that point been his destiny. I noted this in my review of that collection, but it's refreshing to see characters be honest with themselves about what the choices they make say about what and who they value. It's something I wish we'd engage in more in real life, honestly, so I'll always appreciate a moment like that in a novel.

Overall, this was a solid 4.5 stars. On to the Parables. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death of parent, and Suicide

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Mental illness

joeyk06's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Slavery, and Violence