Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

32 reviews

booksviavilla's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

starccato's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Much better than anything Heinlein ever wrote. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest

alomie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this dystopian novel, and I don't usually but as I enjoyed it so much I am reading the 2nd book to know how the story ends. 

I really like diary entry first person books and I also enjoy dystopian novels, it seems like it really should be a great hit for me overall. 

I am finding the relationship with the main character Lauren and a man who is as old as her dad a bit gross, but i suppose when you're lonely surrounded by couples anything is better than nothing but it feels a little bit off to me. I'm not sure I'm good with it. 

The way she is leading a group of people to be peaceful and establish a community that helps each other but also where necessary she is strong and will protect against outsiders and threats is pretty interesting and I wonder how this will continue in the 2nd book where they have settled on the land. 

Lots of walking and lots of rough moments in this book not for the feint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

jojo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, and Cannibalism

Minor: Infidelity, Trafficking, and War

ardour's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Trafficking

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, and Vomit

greymalkin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I picked up this book in 2016 after the elections and put it down almost immediately.  It was too much like  a prediction of what I (rightfully) feared would happen.  Walls, insurrection, meaningless death and violence, hopelessness... I couldn't manage it.  I finally felt I was ready to read it this year and I'm glad I waited.  It's a well-written book, but it's dark with little to hope for.   It is such an iconic book I'm glad I read it, but I don't know that I will need to read it again. 

What few good things happen seem like random luck which makes it hard to really find anything to cling to as a reader.  The people in this book are almost all awful or apathetic which is hard to warm to, and it's sad to see the more hopeful or idealistic characters crushed or worn down.  The book's constant raping of all female characters, even children, is really disturbing and is so constant you start wondering about the author's experience.  It's also strange and feels weirdly sexist that males are not included in this, they get flayed alive or shot in the head, but not raped.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

The society we know in the US has fallen apart in 2025. the economy has collapsed, Violence on the streets has forced neighborhoods to erect walls for protection, many people are becoming homeless, and climate change makes survival even more of a challenge. Lauren learns what it means to survive inside of her walled neighborhood and outside. 

For readers looking for 💕: Intense stories of survival, catastrophic climate change and social upheaval, creative world building, books with black protagonists, community building

My thoughts 💭: I'm not much for books about religion, or dystopian stories (I mostly picked this up because I've loved other Butler books). Even so, I enjoyed this book. I thought the world building was excellent, and loved the collecting of their found family quite a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Xenophobia

megsib's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Murder

lizzie24601's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Maybe I would've enjoyed this more if I had read it as part of an English class or book club. The first 200 pages are a slog, filled with a confusing list of neighborhood residents and a setting that I never really got a grasp of. It seems to be apocalyptic, and yet Lauren's dad still goes to work every day. Lauren's odyssey doesn't even begin until over halfway through the book, and although the pace is much faster and the characters who join her group are interesting, Lauren never really builds any emotional connections to any of them. And Lauren lacks any real flaws to make her an interesting character. Even her sharing, which is supposed to be central to her character, never really hinders her at all. In the few instances where it knocks her out, her companions take care of her and she never really suffers any consequences.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Vomit