Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

55 reviews

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

ireaditonthebus's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

dariogd's review

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

cvibert's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Torture, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

madshill3617's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I consider this book a valuable read but a very difficult one. I began reading it in text then moved to audio because of its graphic nature. I don’t regret reading it, but I don’t plan on ever picking it up again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

liloopie's review

dark sad slow-paced

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

4.25

This a deeply prophetic work form Octavia Butler. At times when reading and listening to the audio book I had to reflect on her world building to our current state of affairs in the present. 
The topics of survival, death, violence was dizzying at times and just damn right depressing but also very gripping to see how Lauren and band of fellow survivors would do next.
The pacing is a bit slow but I didn’t mind it as much because it gave space for reflection. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

bainesy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Reading this book in 2025 was an interesting experience. There were a few things that left me going “huh” but may be explained in the second book to this duology, so I’ll hold judgement for now. Overall a very thought provoking uncomfortable read. 

Also, if you don’t understand something in this book and think it’s “so far out there” or things are talked about to flippantly, welcome to your own privilege and/or lack of understanding. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

vegankat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail