Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Wilde Saat by Octavia E. Butler

96 reviews

ams1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Incest, Slavery, and Murder

catsbreadbikes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

What can i say about this book that hasn't been said by people way more qualified than me? Octavia Butler simply doesn't miss. Read all of her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Violence, Grief, and Slavery

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

Minor: Pregnancy and Rape

pinakamataas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This was an almost 5⭐️ read for me. And mostly the rating went up from the contrast to previously reading the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. 

This was a gripping piece that can make you question anyone’s sanity, it deals with truly dark subject matter, so I would not lightheartedly suggest it to anyone, but to those who were deeply disappointed by Addie LaRue, and maybe because it hinted at darkness it definitely didn’t deliver, this will in spades. But it’s unfair to make this review mentioning both books, because this clearly stands on its own.

I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the next instalments of the Patternmaster (soon or if ever), because it gave me something (or took something from me) that I will need a while to recover.

Doro is and will be one of the most disturbing characters who must kill, and yet kills for pleasure as well. Throughout the book he goes through so much character (I can’t say development) change, that it’s admirable (in spite of everything), and here if he says he loves someone, as a reader you understand that love is nothing romantic and while it’s disturbing and with very little humanity, it is not a lie.

Anyanwu Is the character that teased me with the potential 5⭐️ rating, and in the end while I didn’t hate the place she ended up in the book, approximately 5% before the final reveal of the ending I exclaimed to myself “She WON” and while she didn’t lose the battle with Doro, she definitely didn’t win it either, and it was a huge disappointment to me. Some people might not have that reaction.
Anyanwu sometimes feels like an even more interesting character than Doro while she goes through a lot less character development, her development was more along the lines of the power over her abilities and coming into her own power, but otherwise she is a strong willed character, that I admired a lot of the time.

Anyanwu and Doro play this very separate black and white, yin/yang, good and evil dual POV, and during the course of the book the roles soften, and this feels like the beginning of Doro’s future journey where he has embraced a lot more greyness. And in a way, he ended the book a little less dark than he began it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Medical trauma, Slavery, and Emotional abuse

faynebrio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

man. first time reading octavia butler and her writing is so engaging, i was invested immediately. 
this is an extremely emotional tale of abuse that won't be for everyone. also i dont know how i feel about some of the gender things that are put forward. however butler is veryy smart in the way she deals with complex politics. Im definitely going to read the rest of the books in this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, Slavery, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, and Incest

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery

Minor: Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Anyanwu and Doro are powerful, immortal, godlike beings who may or may not be human. What a wild, up and down ride with a slow burn satisfying (?) payoff. It was a lot of fun seeing the ways that Anyanwu challenged Doro, and I loved the insight we got into her body-focused powers (which reminded me of the Ooloi from Butler’s Xenogenesis saga). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abandonment, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Medical content, Incest, Rape, Grief, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Slavery, Mental illness, Death, Racism, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death, Abortion, Infertility, Sexual content, Blood, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Racial slurs

antimonium's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

3.5

This book gave me the ick. Don't like the whole breeding thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, and Racism

turtleduckiess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

I want to write this review before I read the afterward. I wish I had gotten here immediately after finishing the book but i had class smh. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience. From what I can tell this is a sort of random place to start with Octavia Butler but I really enjoyed the writing and the world and magic systems she created. The best part about this book is undoubtedly the two main characters, especially Anyanwu she was my favorite part of the entire thing. I think the characterization of them is really strong and laid out very consisteny so you understand why they make certain choices or why they change throughout the book which was very interesting to watch. The ending had me STRESSED and I had lots of feelings about that last chapter. I'm really excited to see what other people thought about it. Going in required reading because Anyanwu's ideas about family and her duty as a healer, how she understands humanity, and perseveres in her circumstances all resonated or impacted me. That is what will stick with me even as the details of the plot fade away.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Sexual content, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Rape and Pedophilia

yomireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

So, as a whole, this book is well written, and its clear that Octavia E Butler has a strong grasp of her craft. Anyanwu and Doror both are well shaped characters with strong wills that clash, neither bending easily to the other. The abilities and the exploration of these otherworldly abilities is captivating to be sure. The dark and keen look at slavery and the loss of autonomy is very intentional and poignant. 

But God was I uncomfortable the entirety of this novel. I'm positive the discomfort is intentional, the fear, rage, and overall frustration simmering just below boiling from the start is intentional, but the obstinate refusal of the clearly villainous Doro to have any sort of real character growth for literal centuries made me want to chuck this book into an ocean.

The incest was obscene. Eugenics at its finest (most disturbing). And the strange pervasive nature of misogyny in characters who can shift their sex at will wildly frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Cannibalism, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship