Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

41 reviews

jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

complex but lacked the tension to be truly engaging. It honestly feels like the prologue of a different story (which it kinda is)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

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

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

thenextbookdilemma's review

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: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Incest

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

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

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

peachmoni'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: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

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

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

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, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

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

kshertz's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Octavia Butler saw the future and dreamed it. This book is no different. The idea of enslaved people and people in Africa that can change bodies. Creating their own tribes in Africa and America. The following of those with magical powers and their lineage was fascinating. She was so creative and it stands the rest of time for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

nexusgoblin's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

As with the other books by Butler this has my mind racing, struggling to put together coherent thoughts and honestly makes me glad I no longer review in long form. What could I even say that would adequately describe exactly how I feel or what this book manages to do?

I love the deep dive into ways people try to fill the loneliness, what hard lines they set (if any), and where they begin to bend under the weight of eternity. What loneliness without empathy and compassion can lead a person to do, to believe. This of course is not the only theme, but it's the one that stood out to me the most as I turned the last page. 

This is no easier a read than any of other Butler's novels, and so much of it had my stomach in knots. But I'm glad I finally got a copy and it's going to stick with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

tenderbench's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Racism and Rape