Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

53 reviews

mald626's review

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

keyradiator's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-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

5.0

This book is really a marvel. Octavia Butler's writing is accessible, evocative, crisp, and visceral; reading her and Ursula K. Le Guin made me realize I took entirely too long reading several mediocre science fiction books from more mainstream authors.

There is a thing or two in this book that are structurally suboptimal, but overall, the pacing is biting and cohesive, the characters have deeeeep stories and flaws, and the world building is some of the best I've ever read.

This book is dark. You can't quite prepare yourself for just how dark it gets, yet, somehow Butler manages to make a beam of hope cut through all of the noise that carries you through. Please read this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and War

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

mac23's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

4.25

This would be a five star read for me if not for the relationship with Bankole. The power dynamic felt INCREDIBLY gross, not just because of the age difference (he is apparently old enough to be her grandfather) but because of his ownership of (potentially) safe land and his skill as a doctor. In addition, I really didn’t appreciate the weird dismissive way he treated her views surrounding earthseed. 

HOWEVER, moving on from that whole mess- this was a fantastic book overall. The world felt so rich and uncomfortably real, tackling huge questions on human nature and morality. I think my favorite part of the book was the lens of mercy and understanding that our MC gave even to the people who displayed the most reprehensible, violent behavior. Despite being victim to the same dystopia as every one of our characters, Lauren brings with her a unique understanding of human nature, and a compassion towards even those who have the potential to do her harm. I think her wisdom in that realm is what allows her to begin developing Earthseed, and ultimately, allows her to survive. I look forward to reading the second book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

doramag's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mmestitches's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

Powerful boo, but stressful to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

imogenclendinning's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

wormgirl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

racbuckallew's review

dark emotional informative tense slow-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

1.75

Gorgeous. This is brilliantly written, though an exhausting and devastating read. You’ll have to make the most of the Earthseed religious implications, but the text is both poetic and raw. Also, there is a satisfactory ending, which I worried might not come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, and Murder

maameadwubi's review

challenging dark reflective 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? No

3.0

This book is incredibly bleak; Octavia Butler was incredibly prescient and the parallels between this book and our potential reality made it even more horrifying/scary to read. I wasn’t aware of what I was getting into when I started reading it and had to put it down halfway through to spark not a the rest. 
Will be dealing with nightmares for the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy