Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

189 reviews

paddlefootbookwolf's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

anahisa'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? 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dontlittledo's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dannyingram97's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Excellent world building and emotional storytelling. I only think there wasn’t enough of it and I’ve ordered the sequel already.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Cannibalism

loko2493's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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

4.25

Now that it's 2025, maybe get some context before reading...the book is terrifyingly accurate to the struggles we are currently facing in the US. I started it without really knowing what it was about and right as the wildfires in LA began ramping up. Makes a tough read even tougher, but wow I simply couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

totesyotes's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Gigantic content warning. Incredible book.

cierramorg's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

3.5

Begging you not to read this if you’re mentally unstable or in general trying to have a good day. 

My major qualms (it feels illegal to critique Octavia Butler) include the main character and her Earthseed religion. Nothing Lauren does is consistent and she reads more as a robot than a human being who is supposedly hyper-empathetic. And tbh the Earthseed plot came across really culty and angsty, which I guess makes sense since she’s a teenager. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

cole_17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence

aliceaustin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

breannajailene's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Cannibalism