Reviews tagging 'War'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

85 reviews

heemeeraa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mackenziesheehy's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Huuuuuge bummer of a story. Loved the premise, but prose was tedious and hard to get through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Will be very disturbing for sensitive readers.

marinhein2000's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and War

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a great introduction into Octavia Butler for me. The writing style was gripping and the characters were fantastic. The plot was heavy but in a realistic way (especially for a dystopian, it made sense and is even more eerie to read in 2024). I wasn’t a big fan of the “starting a religion” stuff, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

yesthattom's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

zydecovivo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m sure I have heard of this book before this year, but I wasn’t convinced until I read Star Child, a biography of Octavia E. Butler. After finishing, I wish I had read this in high school. It’s dark and dismal. But Lauren’s journey feels more real than any other dystopian novel I’ve read. The future Butler portrays also feels more real than any other I’ve seen. It is almost prophetic, especially since I am writing this in the year 2024, mere months before the novel starts. The world is ravaged by climate change, corrupt governments, addiction and illness, and a society in the process of crumbling. Lauren is a young adult who has known nothing else except the stories the older adults have told her about a bygone golden age. And she needs to survive. Could there be anything more relatable to anyone born in the last 30 years? I immediately borrowed the second book and am excited to see what’s next. I can also see why this could be seen as a religious text. I feel like this novel as a whole is one where you could re-read multiple times and still find new meanings and subtext every time. This is one I want to buy for my bookshelf and is added to my favorites list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Pregnancy

jess_eliza's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and War

teresabg's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

4.5

Very hard to rate this because it is a fantastic book and frankly I think most people would benefit from reading it but I also found it very challenging, so rating it lower that 5 stars simply because of my own struggle to stomach it at times. 

The writing is beautifully accessible and easy to get buried into, but the unflinching exploration of violence and destruction really tested me. Ultimately though, I think it is this very uncensored description of gutwrenching things that makes this book feel so sincerely hopeful. Lauren Olamina is unafraid of looking right into the heart of pain despite the fact that she will be wounded by it also and see in destruction a possibility for a new and more beautiful world. 

In the current climate of the world, I think I really needed to meet Lauren, to peer into a hope that is not ignorant of pain but that fearlessly accepts it and continues to flourish into hope. What good is hope if it is only used to dismiss the reality that is tugging at the heart? 
Thank you Nish for knowing me well enough to recommend this book at this time in my life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

starri_night's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.5

So the main character spends a good chunk of their time talking about the religion that they have created which is a spin-off of Christianity and other religions like Buddhism. Personally, it didn't really resonate with me and I didn't like how the main character tried to force it on everyone because they thought it was the truth. In my humble opinion, the entire story would have remained the same. If not for the religion. Despite this, I will most likely read the the sequel see what happens

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty