amerily123's review
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror
gardner0214's review
- 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
Both this book and Lilith's Brood troubled me in the same way. One of Butler's themes in both works are power dynamics and the role they play in sexual relationships. In both Dawn (the first of the Lilith's Brood series) and Wild Seed the main protagonist is a woman who is essentially forced to sleep with and breed with whomever her captors (who physically and ethically repulse these women) send their way. This abuse continuously happens to these women despite how physically and mentally strong the characters are, they are both essentially reduced to serve the same function of cattle and breeding stock.
I am not saying that these aren't interesting themes, I believe they are worth the effort to diving into, especially given the way Butler expertly weaves gender and race dynamics into these Sci-Fi worlds within the novels. However, this kind of relationship and downright abuse is so constant in the books and it begins to wear me down about 3/4s of the way through the books. It makes me feel broken and I just want to scream for these women.
I guess what I am saying is my main critique is, for books that have the potential to cover so much fantastic, sci-fi ground, they dwell far to much on sexual abuse over and over again.
Graphic: Slavery and Sexual violence
Moderate: Incest
abmochapman's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
probably_yuta's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism
loristoudenmier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Incest, Slavery, Death, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
m_petranoff's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death
Moderate: War, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Colonisation
Like many of Butler's books, this is a challenging look at the nature of humanity. It is dark and about how easy it can be to lose ones humanity, but not as challenging to read as some of her other novels. There are a lot of content warnings, and only a few are graphic, but the theme of the book itself is engaging with challenging themes.wasabipopsicle's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Slavery, and Sexual assault
Minor: Body horror
schnooglefaceduthie's review
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Alcoholism
lexi17d's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Trafficking, Suicide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Slavery, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Domestic abuse, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Incest
jet's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Rape, Incest, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia