Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

559 reviews

sapphicsquirrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Murder

cacophonyofpages's review

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

1.5

My first read of 2025 and it was so so disappointing. I honestly don't understand the acclaim that this book has. 

I’d say the writing itself isn’t atrocious, and that’s about the only good thing I can say for Parable of the Sower. 

The main character, Lauren, is absurd. She’s supposed to be hyper-sensitive and hyper-empathetic, yet she comes across as emotionless and detached. It doesn’t add up. Her diary entries are so flat and toneless, they feel like they were written by someone stripped of emotion rather than someone supposedly overwhelmed by feelings and sensations. The book keeps telling us she’s this deeply emotional, intuitive person, but it never shows us. The disconnect is baffling. 

And then there’s her made-up religion, Earthseed. It’s pretentious beyond belief. Somehow, people across a broken and chaotic country decide to follow this 18-year-old’s vague, fortune-cookie wisdom like it’s gospel. Really? In a world falling apart, these people have nothing better to do than listen to her preach? It’s laughable. The entire premise feels ridiculous, as if the author wants us to take this delusional teenager seriously as a self appointed prophet. I couldn’t. I found myself laughing at times at her contrived 'wisdom'. 

I gave up about 220 pages in , at a point when  I felt that if I were to roll my eyes anymore they'd roll right off my head, I ended up just skimming the last 100 or so pages. I couldn’t handle another page of Lauren’s sanctimonious ramblings. If I’d known this book was essentially about a self-important kid founding a cult based on the most incoherent, half-baked philosophy ever, I wouldn’t have picked it up. Going into it blind was a mistake. 

It’s frustrating because the book could have been so much better. There are big, important topics here—racism, sexism, class issues, climate change—but they’re either underdeveloped or drowned out by Lauren’s endless drivel about Earthseed. The beginning showed some promise. There were glimpses of a compelling dystopian, post-apocalyptic world, but most of the interesting plot threads went absolutely nowhere. Instead of exploring this society and its collapse, we got bogged down in Lauren’s preachy cult gatherings. 

I wanted so much more from this book. I wanted a rich, thought-provoking exploration of a broken world and the people trying to survive in it. What I got was a tedious, overwrought narrative about a teenager who thinks she’s the second coming. It was a disappointment, through and through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Incest, Rape, and Torture

ambroselouis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I found this a gruelling read. I nearly put it down forever. But ultimately this was a really rewarding read. We can still find pockets of goodness and joy even in the worst times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry

rebeccaweger's review

challenging dark hopeful sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Classism

free2bme731's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zaonic's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What can you say about this book that hasn't already been said. 

Follow the FMC in a near future/alternate timeline dystopia in which the USA has fallen just a bit further than current affairs. 

Written in 1993 Octavia E Butler was prophetic with this book. 

This is written in a diary style first person, following the fmc from childhood into her late teens, the trauma of her home community and a great long walk and everything she learns in between. 

This book is SPIRITUAL, the FMC was raised by a southern Baptist Paster but has her own ideas on God and religion. 


God is Change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

melluzyne's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Xenophobia and Vomit

ncoshea's review

challenging dark inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Murder

jami30's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

thefluffyowl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Despite the heavy content, this should be required reading.