Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Dawn, by Octavia E. Butler

12 reviews

pyromastyx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: War and Child death

elizmckinney9's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia

nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely an epic Scifi post apocalyptic adventure. Lilith is really stuck between a rock and a hard place when she wakes up to find out she’s basically been kidnapped by aliens (they say rescued) after Earth was wiped out. These aliens have a strange amount of control over Lilith and eventually other humans you meet, but everything is done their way and on their time and Lilith has to either fall in line or go back to sleep. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Kidnapping

There’s a scene where a group of humans are drugged before meeting the aliens and then sexual stuff happens

booknug's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Rape, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Colonisation

isa_almeida's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Violence

thenonbinaryc's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Car accident, Suicide attempt, Rape, Kidnapping, War, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Incest, Sexual content, and Child death

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

I read Parable of the Sower last year and immediately knew that I needed more Octavia Butler in my life. How had I been sleeping on her for this long? Part of the issue is that I don’t really consider myself a science fiction reader, which is what Butler’s books are generally classified as. But I am a fan of speculative fiction and dystopian fiction, and in Butler’s version of sci-fi, there’s considerable overlap with these genres. So, in addition to being a glowing review, this is also a PSA to try reading genres you sometimes don’t consider. And if you’ve never read anything by Octavia Butler, please do so post haste. 

Let’s get the scary sci-fi part out of the way: there are aliens in this book. And while the aliens are a major factor, please know that this is so much more than a book about aliens. More than anything, it’s a book about humans, what it means to be human, and at what point in the evolutionary process does what we are fundamentally change?

Dawn was written in the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, and it shows. Butler has a knack for looking at the world and imagining the long term consequences if we continue on our current trajectory. This book raises big questions. Does being human mean that we are destined to destroy ourselves? What are the ethical ramifications of animal research, breeding, and genetic modification? And, what price is too high to save our world?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Kidnapping, Murder, and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, War, Car accident, and Rape

mizelse's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Xenophobia, Genocide, Abandonment, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Cursing, and Infertility

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

Eins der faszinierendsten Bücher, die ich je gelesen habe. Ein Science-Ficton Buch, dass unglaublich wichtig Themen in der Gesellschaft durch einen neuen  Blickwinkel anspricht: Geschlecht/Gender/Sex, sexuelle Gewalt und körperliche Autonomie, romantische Beziehungen, Kolonisierung, Hierarchien in der Gesellschaft und Ausgrenzung. 
Es ist unglaublich gut geschrieben. Manchmal weiß man nicht was richtig oder falsch, was gut was böse und was gerechtfertigt und was unverzeihlich ist. 
Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall empfehlenswert, man sollte sich aber vorher die Triggerwarings anschauen.
Die deutsche Übersetzung ist ganz okay, sollte aber bezüglich der Pronomen nochmal überarbeitet werden.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racism, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Infertility, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Grief, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Homophobia, Car accident, Death, and Cancer

shoohoob's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think this book solidified that I am not a sci-fi/fantasy reader. My brain is just not built for the world-building. 

That being said, this book was fascinating. It was deeply uncomfortable, unsettling, and infuriating to read at times. It’s so interesting that way you almost want to root for both the Oankali and Lilith, but both make it so hard. 

Octavia Butler does such a wonderful job commenting on colonization, xenophobia, and even gender in this book. I found myself referring to the ooloi as he/him but Lilith’s commentary on other people’s reactions to it really put a mirror in my face. 

That being said, I’m not sure that I’ll continue the series. I was almost too uncomfortable and I didn’t really find myself caring about what happens to the characters. I connected more to the commentary than the actual story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape