Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler

11 reviews

alreadyemily's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

ritabriar's review

challenging dark hopeful 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

5.0

This graphic novel adaptation goes almost as hard as the original. Though maybe that's because I knew about

the horrific whippings

before I started this read. Check on content warnings. Octavia Butler is always a brutal, worthwhile read. 

The plot repeatedly visits the life of a white boy and slave owner's son in Maryland, starting in 1819. The book overall is an account of conditions for slaves during that time, contrasting at regular intervals with modern conditions and amenities. 

Though the rules of the "magic" are clear, the forces that cause Dana to travel back and forth in time are never explained. Instead, Kindred explores the humanity of everyone in the South at that time. It examines the choices white plantation owners made during that time and the pressures on them to dehumanize the people they enslaved. It examines why slaves might have talked badly about one another. It explores how modern minds might react in such a setting. It does it all in a well-researched, historically accurate setting. 

For those with interest in reading both versions, this adaptation changes what happens with Kevin. This adaptation highlights our choices and the original points out that modern minds are still human, same as those in the antebellum South. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Fear of leaving the house High-risk, self-destructive behavior Amputation Medical content occurs pre-Civil-War No one is hit by

bullets

on-page Violence is white-on-Black and Black-on-white, exploring the outcomes of each There is also a slow and horrible crushing of Dana's mind, with a hopeful ending

dustytealeaf's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a great adaptation of the original book. It's been years since I read the original, so I thought I'd pick this up to scratch that itch without having to read all of Kindred again (I'm in the middle of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy, so I didn't want to get her writing confused). At first, the art seemed jarring. But the more I read, the more I realized that the art is a perfect fit for the story. 

It's a heartbreaking story that explores Dana's perspective as she is repeatedly pulled into the past to save the life of Rufus, her distant white ancestor. The first time she is pulled back, he is just a child and she saves his life. Each time she goes, he has aged up anywhere from months to years. To keep her family line going, and ensure her own existence, Dana has to keep Rufus alive long enough for his child to be born. But that's not easy. The story gives you no other choice but to watch as a child, innocent as any other, is corrupted by his family, culture, time, experiences, etc., and becomes a disgusting plantation owner.

Don't expect to read this in one sitting. Some books can be read that fast, and some people may be able to do that here. But the horror of the subject matter makes it very hard to read in one sitting. I had to take frequent breaks to process what had happened. But I really loved the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

nick_thebucket's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

This book is incredible but the art is so poor that it actually detracts from the story. The way the expressions are drawn is so cheesy and it just doesn't read as authentic at all. Like they drew her looking more emotional eating shrimp than when she returned after time traveling for the first time. It doesn't look like the characters are feeling the emotions, they look like they're acting, if that makes sense. The anatomy was.... there were so many mistakes and they were very beginner level mistakes. The characters didn't even look like themselves half the time because the artists couldn't draw them consistently. Also the layout/composition of panels was so hard to read at times that they literally added in white border to try to make some sense of what's going on and I thought the white linework was distracting and unappealing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

canascorner's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

kelseyr713's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Excellent adaptation of the novel. I enjoyed the art style and artistic choices made throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

gondorgirl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

allbookedupwithrosie's review

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This riveting tale takes us on a journey with Dama, as the modern day woman gets transported back in time to constantly save the life of her ancestor. 

As her world spins and she believes for sanity is dissipating, we take a trip through history to explore the violence and slavery in the USA of the 18th Century. 

Reading through this graphic novel, you can’t help but feel the pain of the black society during this time and the obligation Dana feels to save as many as she can during her trips backwards. 

I had never read a Octavia Butler novel before and was hesitant. I picked up the graphic novel as I believed it would be a nice introduction and relatively easy way to read one of her novels. As I began reading I realized, I was missing the depth of the novel, that I may not miss if I had read the novel in the first place. (I’ll be buying the novel shortly to see if I get those pieces I believe I’m missing). 

I recommend this book for anyone looking to dip their toes into an Octavia Butler novel. As recommend for anyone who enjoys graphic novels and history knowledge. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Dementia, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury