Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

95 reviews

readingorknittingatalltimes's review

adventurous dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Felt like an abrupt ending and also seems like all she wanted to do was

build a religious cult

which I guess makes sense considering her background. Bleak book, definitely feels like a possible reality which is very unfortunate. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nonamenogender's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

3.5

I loved many aspects of this book. I think the slow descent into chaos is more realistic and frightening than a nuclear apocalypse. I think Lauren is an interesting and compelling protoganist. I love how we are experiencing this story through her journal entries, and Lauren's account is not 100% reliable. My biggest criticism of this book is how it portrays and discusses substance use. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

queenclio's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Cannibalism, and Murder

kyrag96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

t4t1312's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Very intense but rly one of the best books ever written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

happy_birthday's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

a very worthwhile post-apocalypse! a lot more shooting poor people in the face than I expected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

it'd be a little easier to list the content warnings this book doesn't have

shesreadingagain_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

tey_lynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

gar42's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I had heard so much about this book, and it was on my TBR forever, but I knew I had to start it this year, 2024, which is when the book is set. 

This is a dystopian novel to end all dystopian novels. Deeply unsettling, yet steeped in reality, in trends of the past and hope for the future. 

Lauren’s character was so compelling throughout. Her wisdom and her hope, despite having no reason to believe in a better world, pushed me through the darkness and grittiness of this novel. I can understand why this book has found itself in “current events” sections in bookstores and libraries. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ikiteahill's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was hard to read. It's billed as scifi/fantasy but it's really more focused on a dystoipian society. Taking place in the USA starting in the year 2024, it's an alternate universe but parts of it hit really close to home with how eerily similar they are to society today. Some of the content was hard to stomach. But it brings up such interesting philosophical concepts. Like, what is God? What is religion? What does that do for people? What is human nature? How do we respond as a species under threat? You have to be in the right mindset to read this one but it's worth reading. I think this one will stick with me for a while, even if I'm not sure I'm ready to read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment