Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

106 reviews

havingfunisnthard's review

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Gore, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

Death of a parent

hayleyvharrington's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Racism

yinzer_barbie's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

vixusg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

Man, what a read. And what a time to start this book. There's so many reasons I love this book.

Firstly this book is exactly the genre of book I love--one that I've dreamed of writing myself. A post--apocalyptic survival story, with detailed information on how exactly they're surviving. Very realistic barring the hyper-empathy and bits of technological advancement but it's Sci-fi, so I wouldn't expect anything else. 

I am particularly attached to the main character Lauren, I see a lot of myself in her character, both as someone who stores items in preparedness for if something went wrong or if a fire broke out and also as someone who hoards information from books on survival.

The only thing I didn't vibe with Lauren on was the religion. Im an atheist but I appreciate her views and the lore behind it but I am relatively indifferent to religion as a whole. I think it's an interesting religion she's creating, and interesting the elements she pull from other religions. I'm interested in it so far as a lore aspect rather than anything else. I do like the link between the title (parable of the Sower is a Bible parable) and Laurens new religion. It's is heavy on this aspect so asthiests and those with religious trauma beware.

As for the world...I live in California, so I know the landscape of the story very intimately. Having grown up in Sacramento and now living in southern California, I can picture every aspect of their journey because I've been there myself--honestly, a privilege to be able to have this kind of perspective while reading. Knowing first-hand exactly the kind of climate problems/natural disasters that California faces makes me all too familiar with Butler's idea of future.

That's not even to mention the socioeconomic disasters that are plaguing the story, of which, I find very realistic when it comes to the history and current climate of our country. I can see very clearly why this has been recommended in place of The Handmaid's Tale. I do find it far more encompassing of the various complex problems that exist in the story and our society. Very much like looking into a dimension that's just on the other side of the street.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse and Excrement

ireaditonthebus's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

voeuetoile's review

dark 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? Yes

4.5

I had to set this book down for a bit, not because it wasn’t brilliant, but because of how emotionally heavy it is. Given the state of the U.S. in 2025, Parable of the Sower feels disturbingly relevant. Octavia E. Butler’s storytelling cuts deep, touching on racism, enslavement, classism, wealth disparities, corporate privatisation, starvation, cannibalism and the devastating reality of water as a scarce and costly resource. The novel’s unsettling parallels to the US today, makes it a thought-provoking read that lingers long after you put down the book. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Rape, and Sexual violence

crybabybea's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.25

One of the greatest writers of our time for sure. Parable of the Sower is interesting because, while it's shelved as sci-fi, there's actually not many sci-fi elements to it, except for made-up drugs and side effects and a fictionalized setting. To me, it actually reads more like literary fiction; our time is spent inside the main character's head and her relationships rather than getting wrapped up in an action-packed plot. It read very similarly to I Who Have Never Known Men, but written with a feeling of tension rather than isolation.

Of course, there are moments of "action", in which the characters have to fight their way out of dangerous situations and survive, but the scenes move quickly without much detail, and instead the action serves to further the development of the main character, Lauren, and her relationships with her community. Lauren's narration is matter-of-fact and brutal. She observes the world through the lens of survival, and her idea of what it takes to survive evolves as she experiences more and more violence. Moving from quiet anticipation, to uneasy vigilance, to cautious magnanimity, her understanding of the world is showcased through her development of her spirituality called Earthseed.

Earthseed is something that I think can be analyzed in so many different ways and is definitely a huge reason why this book is as highly praised as it is. It highlights the knowledge of Black activists, but especially Black women. Motherhood in all of its forms is incredibly important to the formation of the burgeoning Earthseed community. Lauren also believes in the importance of intersectionality, embracing diversity and change. The questions of climate disaster and Lauren's seed collecting also point to indigenous wisdom.  In developing Earthseed, Octavia Butler critiques people's cautiousness around changing traditional values, beliefs, and systems, and instead asks us to listen to the people around us, especially those with diverse opinions and experiences.

There are so many layers to unpack with this book, that I'm sure have been unpacked by people much smarter than I am. There are parallels to so many things. It kind of started to feel a little meta because while The Parable of the Sower presents parallels to issues that have affected different marginalized groups (but especially those of the global south and Black Americans), Lauren is somewhat privileged, at least via class, and the people in her community refuse to see the danger closing in until it begins to affect them personally. Which, of course, is similar to the mindset of white people in America. Y'know the whole "first they came for the communists" kinda thing. 

Read it. It's still timely and clearly inspired many works of modern fiction. Be wary of trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

marena02's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

I don’t know how to feel about this book as a whole in terms of plot and story. I will say what I loved most about it were the characters and the world building. Octavia Butler has a way of making these dystopian landscapes feel so real in more ways than one, and having these characters interact in a way that’s genuine and authentic. Lauren as a main character is an interesting perspective to read from. She’s not necessarily considered a chosen one archetype that’s usually in these types of stories. She’s very cynical, a know-it-all, and just a girl who slowly becomes a cult leader. I liked her. I was overwhelmed with the amount of side characters at the beginning of the book and at some point couldn’t keep up with who was dating who or the child of who, but as the book progressed it got easier to digest. Her ending with up a 50 year old man was a choice. I really don’t know how to breakdown my thoughts about this book, but the gist is I liked it. The second half more than the first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

binca's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

radfordmanor's review

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail