Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

307 reviews

pweav's review against another edition

adventurous 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

I will never get tired of this series. So incredibly well done and such truly prophetic work that made Octavia Butler my favorite author of all time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Racism, Rape, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

hotkoolaidpotato's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Octavia Butler is amazing. If I could give this book 10 stars I would. This book is definitely a modern day classic and scares me with how realistic it was.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

djtoebeans's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

just_ari's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It felt so right to read this book at the end of 2024. This book was written in 1993 but takes place from 2024-2026 in the United States where things have been going seriously downhill since the 2000s. Climate change has cause horrible natural disasters, disease has spread, and extreme poverty is all around. It is astounding how much Octavia Butler was able to predict about the future. Yes, her idea of the modern world was more extreme than the actual world we live in but themes throughout the book resonated closely to me and it's scary to think about how close we currently are to living in Butler's version of the world. The main character of this book reminded me of the importance of emergency preparation and as well as the importance of having and relying on your community. This was probably the most important book I read this year. While parts of it scared me about our future, it also gave me a vision to prepare myself. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series, Parable of the Talents. Octavia Butler is an inspirational author and I highly recommend this book to everyone. Prepare yourself when reading it because it gets really dark but know that once you have finished you will see the world in a different light.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Cannibalism

justine16's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Torture, and Trafficking

sabiecee's review

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

Jarring, real, and thought-provoking. Having a hard time to coming to terms with it still.
The main character's relationship at the end and the weird age gap is making me really uncomfortable though, and I'm hoping that doesn't last long in the next book 😭

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

glassdanse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

this book is not for the faint of heart. it is a beautifully written book though. not one I would recommend to everybody

tashba's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content and Cannibalism

emerentina's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

---

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