Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

455 reviews

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chanlo1994's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.75

I wouldn't have picked this up if didn't get the free audiobook credit for it. It was fascinating to see a 90's perspective of 2024, which is the year I read this book, and the author's predictions of what the world would come to in a worst case scenario. Aside from the very extreme dystopian ideas, there are some parallels to today's world. I think we're lucky our government system hasn't failed us (yet) and this book is a stark reminder of what could come should we, as a community and society, fail. Not just each other, but ourselves. In the book, it's mentioned how "backwards we've become" and I know, with recent events, we've definitely heard that a time or two.

It is heavily Christian based, but it also expands from those teachings.

Pretty much if The Purge exists all day every day for years on end, this is what it would be like. I wouldn't be surprised if The Purge was partially inspired by this book.

Oh, and it's most certainly a book about the formation of a cult. Lol. But a good cult? It's yet to be seen.

Side note: because it was recorded in 1999, the end credits are delightfully dated lololol. Saying we could fax them to order a new book and such. I loved it lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Hate crime and Kidnapping

This is a heavily triggered book for nearly every topic.

pat_reads_slow's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

ashcash29's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was amazing, very interesting, I did not want to put it down. I knew it was dystopian but the quick, effective, and unrelenting violence described was a bit much too handle, so that heaviness for me left the book at 4.25 stars and that is why it's not higher. It is written at the level you would expect a 17-year-old (main character) to write, which helped me to stay in contact with the main character and her decision-making. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death

viatryx's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy

ashley_inwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book for sure hits my top 10. It is so thought provoking and deep. I thought a 15 year old main character would bother me, but it really didn’t. It’s sad, but also happy in a weird way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, and Cannibalism

mollyrook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.5

This one was a hard one for me to review, because in lots of respects it is an incredible book and a brilliant look at what a dissolving US could look like. But I didn't actually love it. I found the Earthseed religion part of it distinctly uncompelling—why does this 18-year-old think she has stumbled on the truth of the universe and is going to gather a whole religion of followers? It doesn't ring true for me. I would have preferred it if her following grew just because she was a good person, and her philosophy developed along the way.

Also, even if she had to grow up far too soon, Lauren didn't feel like a teenager at any point to me. She was too eloquent, too reasonable, too consistently level-headed. Her language also felt too old—no teenager says that someone "soiled themself." I think she would have been more compelling as a young adult because she wouldn't have felt as anachronistic to me.

So, I didn't love it, which is disappointing because I expected to. Still very glad I read it, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

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.

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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

imperatorprincess's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.25

If you don't like this book within the first fifteen pages, I'd advise putting it down.  It's so relentless and extreme in the vibe it sets that those who don't like it at first won't find anything else waiting for them.  I landed somewhere in the middle, just like most of this book.  The characters are decently sympathetic but not fleshed out well (there's just too many for the book's own good).  The worldbuilding is intriguing but so unflinchingly nihilistic that it's hard to feel anything.  After a while I'm no longer horrified, much less compelled, but just numb to all the violence and waiting for something, anything, to provide a spark of hope.  Luaren's Earthseed plan might fit the bill if she made any concrete efforts to progress it or actually used it to better other people's lives, which she doesn't seem to care about all that much.  I wasn't horribly disappointed, and I can see why some folks adore this series.  All I can do is shrug.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol