Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

16 reviews

cobraforhire's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

It’s fun speculative world-building, but the actual story is a little ho-hum.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

babyhairs's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.0

so so many content warnings for this just as a heads up!

 i picked up this book after having it recommend by so many people, and i really feel like i understand much more about octavia butler’s work and how some of the patterns that play out in her books reflect the present day. 

CONTENT WARNING FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING. i had no idea what this book was about and the descriptions of brutality, violence, general gore i don’t even know how to categorize were really hard to get through for me. just be emotionally prepared for this one. it’s worth reading but it’s not light by any means. i had to take lots of breaks so it was a slow read for me. 

also… the themes i found hard to engage with were that the main character, who is 15 to 18 years old over the course of the book, has a long term sexual relationship with a 57 year old man, and it’s framed positively and even justified at multiple points. the reasons given (her maturity, etc) made my skin crawl. i also thought earthseed being a church/cult and all of the related metaphors that come from religious communities was an angle i personally had to move around. i know this book contains much more depth than these two points, so though these things made me very uncomfortable i did get value out of reading the book and appreciate all of the other commentary the author is bringing to the table. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment

3littlewordz'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I was utterly spellbound reading Parable of the Sower. There was an uncomfortable level of parallels between the book Octavia Butler wrote in 1993 to society today, particularly after starting this book for the first time on July 20, 2024. Even at her young age, Lauren Olamina knew that society would continue to devolve, even when the adults in her neighborhood kept their heads in the sand. The book was unsettling for me for so many reasons, most importantly because I am not ready for this type of collapse of society, and we're incredibly close to this occurring if things don't change SOON. Octavia's vision was so easy to visualize because we're so close to it!  

Lauren's narration was clear and poignant - she knew what was coming, and knew what to do when the time came. She also had a quiet, determined resolve that made her a survivor and contributed to her philosophy. She also welcomed community/chosen family, even in circumstances where trusting new people could prove deadly.

I did wonder why Earthseed was approached as a religion instead of a philosophy. It would seem "God is change" and her assertion that her 'religion' was change wouldn't rise to the definition of a religion, but I'm looking at it from my understanding of religion. She spoke a bit about Destiny being among the stars and at times it did seem she meant this literally, so maybe that's where religion comes in. Bankole actually mentioned this during her first explanation of Earthseed.

My only ick is the age gap between Lauren and Bankole. This is the second book of Octavia's that I've read where she introduces either an actual large age gap or the appearance of one. This is one of the few tropes I hate to see in books. I understand that Lauren probably gravitated to Bankole because he reminded her of her father, but no. Nah. I don't want to see it. I want to read more of Octavia's work, but not if that will continue to be included.

I wonder what a newer version of this story (complete with the influence of social media) would look like.... how much mis- and disinformation would be included to make everything 1000x worse. Either way, this work can be utilized as a look into the future, both as a warning and a deterrent. I hope as many people as possible take it as such. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Trafficking

lindseygcarden's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

yruss972's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, and Pregnancy

Kept expecting more but it never came.

joharrismay's review

adventurous dark sad tense slow-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

One of my all time favs. I haven’t read it in a while just it’s so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

aleksanski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship

rachelmerrie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The first half was very interesting, the second half lost my attention. I think the second half maybe was just as interesting, just dragged on? The concept is so captivating and challenging. Worth the read, tons of TWs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail