Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

414 reviews

viatryx's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy

ashley_inwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book for sure hits my top 10. It is so thought provoking and deep. I thought a 15 year old main character would bother me, but it really didn’t. It’s sad, but also happy in a weird way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, and Cannibalism

blesstherainss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, and Trafficking

pweav's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

I will never get tired of this series. So incredibly well done and such truly prophetic work that made Octavia Butler my favorite author of all time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Racism, Rape, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

imperatorprincess's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.25

If you don't like this book within the first fifteen pages, I'd advise putting it down.  It's so relentless and extreme in the vibe it sets that those who don't like it at first won't find anything else waiting for them.  I landed somewhere in the middle, just like most of this book.  The characters are decently sympathetic but not fleshed out well (there's just too many for the book's own good).  The worldbuilding is intriguing but so unflinchingly nihilistic that it's hard to feel anything.  After a while I'm no longer horrified, much less compelled, but just numb to all the violence and waiting for something, anything, to provide a spark of hope.  Luaren's Earthseed plan might fit the bill if she made any concrete efforts to progress it or actually used it to better other people's lives, which she doesn't seem to care about all that much.  I wasn't horribly disappointed, and I can see why some folks adore this series.  All I can do is shrug.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

theresarose12's review

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and War

Minor: Sexual violence and Cannibalism

hotkoolaidpotato's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Octavia Butler is amazing. If I could give this book 10 stars I would. This book is definitely a modern day classic and scares me with how realistic it was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

auntslayla's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-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

4.5

Really great, slow to start but once you’re in you can’t stop. Excited to read the second one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

bekreadz7's review

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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Gun violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture