Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

55 reviews

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

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Fatphobia, Excrement, and Vomit

Adult/minor relationship warning is also for a relationship between a grown adult and an 18-year-old.

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Wowwwwwww. Dark, fascinating, exciting, deep, complex… a perfect dystopia. With an end filled with a strange hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

apollo0325's review

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

A tense, sad, bleak, but hopeful look at the destruction humanity can wrought on both itself and the world. Octavia Butler sets the stage for us within the eyes of a young black girl with the hope that people can change because God is Change. The angle of Earthseed alongside the hyper-empathy angles gives us an unusual narrator for a dystopian story.

My only qualm with the story is mostly from a logistical standpoint, mainly the economic and government system in place. Like… why are people still using cash? Why not just barter? Why do people still go to jobs when it seems like the unemployment and houselessness rate is like 90% 😭 doesn’t make much sense to me but again, mostly a nitpick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

twu's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

denlia's review against another edition

dark 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: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

maameadwubi's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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? No

3.0

This book is incredibly bleak; Octavia Butler was incredibly prescient and the parallels between this book and our potential reality made it even more horrifying/scary to read. I wasn’t aware of what I was getting into when I started reading it and had to put it down halfway through to spark not a the rest. 
Will be dealing with nightmares for the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

dizzy_mittz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

If you can handle the content, it’s a very sobering read - you may even find some hope in it. I highly recommend this book. I will, however, not be diving directly into the rest of the series. Breaks will be necessary if you are emotionally swayed by your reading - I should have taken more while reading.

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

midnightcomets's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

 

In spite of your loss and pain, you aren't alone. You still have people who care about you and want you to be alright. You still have your family.

Dystopian books need to make you question your existence, pierce your view of the world, burst your bubble and make you worry and feel and think and ache. And that's exactly what this book did. Please approach with caution, it is a very heavy story.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Vomit