Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

572 reviews

paddlefootbookwolf's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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pipercurda's review

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

one of those stories that doesn’t leave you hopeless, doesn’t leave you hopeful, but drops you on your head somewhere much more nebulous and awful. that being said, written engagingly and dynamically by butler. she doesn’t get you to care about the characters, per se, but she gets you to care about the story. 

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anahisa's review

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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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My first Octavia Butler 🫶🏽 What a strong start, what a treat, what a voice!!! Butler is an author whose work I want to explore this year, and this book did not disappoint 🙂‍↔️

For being known as such a titan in sci-fi, I was surprised by how grounded this story is. It’s incredibly immersive, and eerily relevant to today’s current events! She clocked the decay of American society to the letter, I fear. 

The future Butler describes in this novel is very plausible. I enjoyed that we’re discovering it  from a young girls perspective. And what are the youth of 2025 doing??? Developing new religions and communities based on mutual aid 🙂‍↕️

Earthseed is forever 🙏🏽 I find myself drawn to its core principle - god is change. Strip the almighty of its personhood, and the divine becomes something malleable. It impacts us as much as we can shape it in return. That in itself is a deeply comforting thought. 

The only reason this isn’t 5 starts is because the necessary travel aspects got stale after a while. It’s a solid ending though, and I can’t wait to dive into the sequel!

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emilyalsop's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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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dontlittledo's review

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dark emotional 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

2.75

The actual written language is good, but the storyline is 75% build-up... And the ending is abrupt, incomplete. It almost feels thrown together. 

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verilystilt's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75


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silverhill's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0


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tas_bookclub's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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totesyotes's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

An absolute masterpiece. You will double take at Butler's prescience and prophetic portrayal of a 2024 united states gone wrong, written in 1993. You will double take. You will say "wtf" out loud. Your friends will ask how your book is going, and you will respond "Terrible." with a smile. Readers be warned of a very, very long list of trigger warnings. Take care of yourself and be gentle. 

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oisbell's review

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adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25


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