Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Wilde Saat by Octavia E. Butler

45 reviews

nurseamandarose's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lexi17d's review against another edition

dark slow-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

3.0

Well that was weird.. not sure how I feel about it. Not my favorite of Octavia Butler’s books that I’ve read so far. It wasn’t bad necessarily, just.. meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

nidzi_c's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

saltycoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

spacey_gracie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

ce_read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

fairyollie's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

what I love most about this book- despite it being Octavia Butler, of course- is that despite it being a prequel providing the backstory to the primary villain, it makes no attempt to redeem Doro. because she can't. at all! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Alcohol, and Colonisation

becksusername's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aegagrus's review against another edition

3.5

The most captivating aspect of Wild Seed is the remarkable way in which Butler has imagined Anyanwu and Doro. Each immortal struggles with their own exceptional power in fascinating ways, confronting their abilities' depths and limitations, the costs of exercising such abilities, and the ways in which their power sets them apart from their own identity and from the world around them. They make a good pair: there is a streak of idealism and humanity in the generally malevolent Doro, and there is a streak of bloodlust in the generally beneficent Anyanwu. As a character, each is quite unique, making for remarkable and unexpected developments in their relationship. Doro's movements through the book, in particular, are sinister and frightening, all the more so because he is not a monochromatic antagonist. Anyanwu's acts of resistance, in turn, are all the more compelling because she is never able to shake a degree of complicity.

The story's morally ambiguous conclusion serves these tensions well.

Though gripping, Wild Seed also has hefty things to say about history and society. Butler's exploration of slavery through the extended analogy of Doro's breeding projects is always interesting and emotionally affecting. Her exploration of gender dynamics through the immortals' relationship (perverse, but still resonant with reality) is also generally of interest. Her gestures towards LGBT themes feel comparatively shallow and don't to me seem to add very much, despite the obvious potential in both main characters' gender-mobile personages. Themes relating to history and inevitability are occasionally curious ancillaries to more central themes, but are often inessential.

Wild Seed is well-written, striking a good balance between literary heft and engaging storytelling. At times, dialogue feels a little forced, and I was not entirely satisfied with the pacing in the third act. In general, though, this was a gripping read, and the sheer uniqueness of Doro and Anyanwu's relationship was of great value to me as a reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

thenonbinaryc's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment