Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

355 reviews

lennie_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

pearamour's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

Glad that i read this book now - it is very timely. As an atheist, i found the earthseed storyline difficult to engage with (thats the reason for the rating) but appreciated the storytelling. I did find all the characters besides Lauren to be one-dimensional, but appreciated the various roles they played in the story. All around a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

wildflowercrypt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

i don’t think there’s a single more important book to read in 2025. if you read any banned book this year, please— make it this one. this book is so raw, brutal in its honesty and hope for humankind. people….. people are not good to each other. but in the end, it’ll be the few good people left that will inherit this earth. if this book leaves you with anything, it is that. 

there are a slew of content warnings for this book, definitely go in prepared. the first half is….. harrowing. one of my favorite aspects of the horror genre is how it allows you to engage safely with fear, all the stuff that can be too hard to face without the safety of ink and paper between you and it. parable of the sower isn’t horror, but much like the genre, it allows you to safely face the realities about our world’s near future that are often too hard to look at directly in real life. but it doesn’t leave you there, reflecting on and lost in all that inescapable ugliness mankind made for itself. there’s hope, too. because where there are people, there is always hope. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism and Trafficking

basicboop's review

dark hopeful reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

I read this from December of '24 to January of '25. I could go on forever drawing similarities between the Trump era of now and the book, I don't think that would really explain the point. 

Preparation, community, and the ability to keep going through pain are what I take away from this novel. 

The most bitter part of this tale is that so many loved ones are lost to the world Lauren inhabits. Most of the murders are committed by unknown people for unknown reasons. What I did find funny were characters like the Moss patriarch, Wardell Parrish, and Mrs. Payne. They live in a world that's consantly being set on fire, where rape and murder are so commonplace that victims seem to just move on, but people have time for Biblethumping, racism, and hotepism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

samanthabreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.25

“Not now,” I said. “I can’t see how anything is going to work out now. Everything’s too crazy.” 

“And what? Do you think it’s going to get sane? It’s never been sane. You just have to go ahead and live, no matter what.”

I struggled to review this book. There was SO much to think about, and it all continues to linger. Reading about climate change burning California in 2025 as California was and is actively burning is a heartbreaking foreshadowing (still in awe she wrote this in the early 90s but set the story in 2024 onward) on Butler’s part. She did not miss on the other aspects of this book either. Her exploration of the metaphysical aspects of change and belief, discussions around preparedness, and collective survival. 

At one point, the FMC states “It was a terrifying, looming, moving wall.” What a striking and horrifying symbol to what it feels the reality America is really moving towards. That is the biggest gut punch. I have not felt this reading other dystopian novels. This world does not feel very far off, especially when looking at the boundaries and interactions between governmental institutions and its society and interpersonal relationships in dire times. I had to know what happened next so I immediately jumped into book two. 

A final note, this book includes ALL the heaviness one can probably think of so please take care. Reading a lighter book in conjunction helped me. 💕

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Cannibalism

Minor: Trafficking

mollison's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

jad15215's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Abandonment

Minor: Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Classism

mintyr's review

adventurous challenging inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Grief

vee_eb's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-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? No

4.5

Prescient novel. Butler drew from real history and then current events to accurately predict what the 2020s are shaping up to be. And it's dark.

Favourite quote:
"It's better to teach people than to scare them, Lauren. If you scare them and nothing happens, they lose their gear, and you lose some of your authority with them. It's harder to scare them a second time, harder to teach them, harder to win back their trust. Best to begin by teaching."

The only thing I would say is that because I'm not religious in the slightest, some of the belief system doesn't make much of an impression on me as I shy away from religion in all forms. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism

tfaydoyle's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

Riveting science fiction, though now seems more real than fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism