Scan barcode
shaynicole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
c_cant98's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
edonnel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I especially appreciate the female MC whose empathy is her disability, because in a world where global disaster is the every day news, feeling others pain is can be crippling. In the last week while reading this, two CAT 5 hurricanes have drown the eastern seaboard, earthquakes ricochet along the west coast, and genocides funded by my country have devastated entire nations. What can one person do but despair?
But despite it all, hope is found, in community, in children, and in seeds. And all I can do is keep planting seeds, keep teaching children, and keep hoping.
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
This book is science fiction apocalypse. It describes everything violent you can expect from an apocalyptic future.reading_bunny's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Review:
I only read this book because it was assigned reading for a university class but I really enjoyed it!
The themes and topics were really heavy but the way that Lauren talked about them makes it both more palatable and devastating.
The whole climate apocalypse theme is always fun to read, especially when it's written in the past, so debit seems to be more if a reality as the years go by.
The whole book has the theme of perspective with how Lauren sees the world and her opinions, and how others see the world and their opinions, it's a huge point if conflict in the book and makes Lauren add to and change Earthseed
I have MAJOR beef with that guy though! I don't even wanna wrote his name because he is the same age as my FATHER and that is gross!!!! Plus the way he sees Earthseed and Laurens want to spread the word and start a community pisses me off.
ANYWAYS
would I recommend this book to others? No, not unless I knew they would be able to handle the extensive triggers and themes of the book.
Would I personally read this again? Absolutely not, but I did really enjoy the read though
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Classism
annabelle_v1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Rape
Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism
novel_nymph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sammymilfort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
nonamenogender's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
The crazies/paints/junkies in the book are all murderous psychopaths who take pleasure in burning things and people. They are portrayed as less than human, monsters. And their behavior IS monstrous, but we get no explanation for this other than the drug makes watching fire better than sex. None of the primary characters, other than Keith, who is also a monster, use drugs.
The moment I kept waiting for that never came was either for Lauren to meet a drug user who doesn't fulfill the mold established earlier, or for the crazies to be more than just junkies, and some kind of violent political group or criminal enterprise. But no, their violence is always senseless and brutal.
This wouldn't bother me so much if the drug "pyro" wasn't such a major part of the storytelling. It plays on the racist fears around the crack epidemic, but not in any way that challenges them. The only hint that how Lauren describes drug users is not accurate to the world she lives in, is that her perspective is often naive, and sometimes narrow minded. Butler says the parable books are what she imagined could happen if the worst of societies problems were allowed to continue unchecked. in that context, "pyro" is the least realistic aspect of the book.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
babyhairs's review
4.0
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.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment
iamcarlib's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail