Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

382 reviews

viporras's review

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

njohnson246's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This is an important book, but so horrifically dark. I’ve read a lot of dark books, but this was a whole new level. It was hard to get through at times. I think the worst part too is how scarily accurate Octavia Butler’s predictions are. It’s not hard to see that the future that she has laid out here is very possible if things in the United States continue in the way they are. I appreciated that the ending was hopeful though, and I think I will read the second one, although I will need a break to read something lighter. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you can read it, it will impact you significantly. I especially loved and resonated with the Earthseed verses. Overall, I would recommend, but check the trigger warnings before reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

apridot's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

kittbuch's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

It took a few chapters for me to catch on. It’s slow paced and all the talk of religion was a bit off putting, but then I began to buy the premise of the book. It got hard to stop reading and the pages is overflown with tense and excruciating survival. There really are a lot of hard truths about humankind on these pages. 

This is the first book I’ve read of Octavia E. Butler, and it’s certainly not the last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Slavery

zams's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense 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? No

4.5

I really thought a long time about how to review this book and I'm still not sure what to say.
It's scary close to what's already happening in a lot of places, and it fed my brain with tons of material to think about. I don't know if Lauren being a teenager made a lot of sense to me the way her character is behaving, but maybe she's a product of what's happening, and it doesn't seem too unusual, considering how the others around her age are acting. I think all of the characters were very fleshed out, I still don't know why the love interest had to be this old, but maybe one day I will understand.
It didn't seem like a lot was happening for a good chunk of the book, but the writing style made this go by without much fuss as well, which was verey surprising to me. I definitly think I might have to re-read this again in some time, after I've had a bit more time to process my thoughts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy

raptorq's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality and Cannibalism

Minor: Addiction, Incest, Suicide, Medical content, and Trafficking

library_bee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism

shaynicole's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

sapphicsquirrel's review

challenging dark emotional 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

c_cant98's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail