Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Dawn

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

17 reviews

arirose's review

I can't even begin to piece my thoughts together on this one. I'm not even sure how to rate it, to be honest. I mean, I didn't not like it 🤷 Firstly, the Oankali were made up so well. So disturbing and yet intriguing in physical description, nature, actions and "justifications." Dawn really touches on the concepts of humanity, concent, sexuality, and femininity. I especially picked up on the use of the female body.

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ryster3000's review

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dark informative reflective sad 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? N/A

5.0

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finchthearcher's review

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mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

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blazingquill's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.0

This is a disturbing read that creates a horrific story about breaches in consent and the abuse of colonization. It asks the question, “what are you able to do when you’re helpless?” then weaves a complex answer considering love, hate, and resistance. It’s a story that could not have come from another author, and I think is an important read.

That being said, despite its discussion of gender, it maintains a very cis and straight perspective throughout, which effected my reading of the book. There is also a very complex relationship that edges into both abuse and pedophilia that I think was intended to be read as disturbing but I know could be interpreted differently. Heavy content warnings as well for: nonconsensual procedures, noncon relationships, rape, forced sterilization, and sensory deprivation torture.

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impla77's review

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challenging dark reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

This is a very complex book.. I have to say I love the complicated dynamics of family structures in Butler’s books, but can’t really connect to the interpersonal relationships. This book is I feel quite depressing in the end, with a focus on consent that repeatedly gets violated by the aliens and a general feeling of hopelessness in Lilith’s situation.

I would say that I’m not really sure I liked the direction the plot went with. It seems like there are timeskips where explanation of what happened would probably be beneficial, and again would help in making me believe these relationships between the characters. Overall a very interesting read and I will continue the series.

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