Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

78 reviews

kcuster13's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Wowie is this book relevant in this day and age! Thoroughly enjoyed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

This is quite near a perfect post apocalyptic novel. The only thing keeping it from being considered perfect is that it’s inconclusive. I do look forward to the sequel but it would be nice if this novel was a bit more conclusive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

This is a post-apocalyptic tale where the characters find themselves in relationships with whoever, even potentially cousins and other forms of incest. The violence is very graphic. Much of it is rooted in drug addiction. The racism between characters is rampant too. Well worth the read but please not triggers.

yinzer_barbie's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

betsybarc's review

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

vixusg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

Man, what a read. And what a time to start this book. There's so many reasons I love this book.

Firstly this book is exactly the genre of book I love--one that I've dreamed of writing myself. A post--apocalyptic survival story, with detailed information on how exactly they're surviving. Very realistic barring the hyper-empathy and bits of technological advancement but it's Sci-fi, so I wouldn't expect anything else. 

I am particularly attached to the main character Lauren, I see a lot of myself in her character, both as someone who stores items in preparedness for if something went wrong or if a fire broke out and also as someone who hoards information from books on survival.

The only thing I didn't vibe with Lauren on was the religion. Im an atheist but I appreciate her views and the lore behind it but I am relatively indifferent to religion as a whole. I think it's an interesting religion she's creating, and interesting the elements she pull from other religions. I'm interested in it so far as a lore aspect rather than anything else. I do like the link between the title (parable of the Sower is a Bible parable) and Laurens new religion. It's is heavy on this aspect so asthiests and those with religious trauma beware.

As for the world...I live in California, so I know the landscape of the story very intimately. Having grown up in Sacramento and now living in southern California, I can picture every aspect of their journey because I've been there myself--honestly, a privilege to be able to have this kind of perspective while reading. Knowing first-hand exactly the kind of climate problems/natural disasters that California faces makes me all too familiar with Butler's idea of future.

That's not even to mention the socioeconomic disasters that are plaguing the story, of which, I find very realistic when it comes to the history and current climate of our country. I can see very clearly why this has been recommended in place of The Handmaid's Tale. I do find it far more encompassing of the various complex problems that exist in the story and our society. Very much like looking into a dimension that's just on the other side of the street.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse and Excrement

marena02's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I don’t know how to feel about this book as a whole in terms of plot and story. I will say what I loved most about it were the characters and the world building. Octavia Butler has a way of making these dystopian landscapes feel so real in more ways than one, and having these characters interact in a way that’s genuine and authentic. Lauren as a main character is an interesting perspective to read from. She’s not necessarily considered a chosen one archetype that’s usually in these types of stories. She’s very cynical, a know-it-all, and just a girl who slowly becomes a cult leader. I liked her. I was overwhelmed with the amount of side characters at the beginning of the book and at some point couldn’t keep up with who was dating who or the child of who, but as the book progressed it got easier to digest. Her ending with up a 50 year old man was a choice. I really don’t know how to breakdown my thoughts about this book, but the gist is I liked it. The second half more than the first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.5

What a hauntingly beautiful and terrifying book. So much can be related to today. There were many times I forgot Lauren was a kid. This book definitely made me think and reflect. Really great work.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Slavery, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Cannibalism

gnarlysundries's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laurenlimabean's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

4.75

I think others can agree that this book is 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

yxreads's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I found the novel to be very thought-provoking with regard to religion and what it means to believe in a religion. Perhaps I need more time to think about the novel itself (as I am unsure whether this was intentional due to the main character's main flaw), but I felt somewhat disconnected to whatever was happening in the novel, and it did not bring out as much emotions as I thought it would have based on how horrifying some of the events were. Overall, though, the novel was a very moving expression of community and tenacity, while exposing the darker sides of human nature.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism