Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

611 reviews

booksdogsandcoffee's review

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

Powerful, prophetic, and poignant. Butler took issues she saw such as climate change, religion, racism and many more that we as humans were struggling with in the 1990’s and extrapolated them to what they could look like in 30 years. And quite honestly she was not far off on how society is described in Parable. This book hits hard and needs to be read by everyone. 

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jessbu's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.75


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_david_'s review against another edition

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dark slow-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

2.5

I don't really see a reason to pick up this book.

The book did not manage to grip me. There was a lot of repetition and the constant same amount of tension and chaos made it oddly boring. I didn't feel immersed and stopped caring about the character, I just felt like I was on a slow monorail just logging through the chapters.

I didn't like the main character, she felt very young with the naive "I've figured out the world" mindset, without ever being punished for it. She never questioned her own way of thinking either.

The world building was lackluster, the multiple themes which seemed to make this book special (pyromania, dystopia, starting a new religion) were never really expanded on or even challenged. It's just as it is and you only read about the direct current consequences to the characters.

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af666014's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Very interesting combo of societal issues in an apocalyptic world. Definitely a gruesome read but good.

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manyofmae's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0


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kolonfrancis's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

A beautiful and almost prescient read. This was my first book by Butler that I have read and I was instantly captured by the prose and world building. The relationships that build, collapse, and die are beautifully executed.  

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betsybarc's review

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75


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pastacatz's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

For whatever reason I kept putting this one down and needing to come back to it just to try to finish it.
Finally did. Took me forever. I have appreciation for the vision and the story, especially relevant to now.
How does one handle the end of civilization as we know it? I found some of it really dragged for me and I lost track of characters a bit. I liked the context setting and world building start of the book more than the middle journey + the ending.
Didn't love the old man bedding the teen protagonist either.
I dunno, thematically l enjoyed it, and it holds wisdom to consider, enjoyed some of the
"earthseed" reflections, but plot wise I didn't love it.
I'm not sure if I'll read the second book.

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offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

4.0


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meaghanelizabook's review

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dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0


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