Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

17 reviews

dean_'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

💬: "God is neither good nor evil, neither loving nor hating. God is Power. God is Change. We must find the rest of what we need within ourselves, in one another, in our Destiny."

Butler, Octavia E.. Parable of the Sower (p. 245). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: sci-fi, speculative fiction, dystopia, post apocalyptic, classics 

📚Page Count: 330

🎧Audiobook Length: 12h 01min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 
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The very beginning of the book is very preachy, well a lot of this book is preachy because it's literally the story of a young woman creating her own religion. I'd say the story was overall enjoyable despite the preachiness of it all. I really enjoyed the way this was written and how, it started out hopeless, like a lot of Butler's works. Then, there's a little light at the end of the tunnel and the story suddenly becomes hopeful.

This is my second time reading Parable of the Sower and I finally understand that it's about community and keeping one another safe. Protecting one another in crisis. That is the answer to the question, "what do we do when disaster strikes?"

I also love the diversity in this book. The characters were very diverse like all other Butler books.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow even though the book was interesting overall. Therefore, I'm giving this 4.5 stars out of 5.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

A bit too spiritual/religious for me but I feel like the comments and take on society (post climate change / post-apocalyptic) were very realistic. Probably one of the most realistic dystopian novels I have ever read. Furthermore, I liked how it showed the importance of building up a community that works for each other, although I felt uncomfortable because of the age gap between the protagonist and the old man.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

decklededgess's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

trigger warnings: incest, rape, physical abuse, death of family, gore and injury description, sexual content, drug use and abuse, arson and fire, racism, sexism, murder, enslavement, cannibalism, child abuse, trafficking, suicide, gun violence, and more probably.

Before I get into my doom and gloom reaction let me just say that terrifying as this book is, it's incredibly well thought out and the cause and effect of what leads to the situations in this book are rooted in very realistic patterns. The cast of characters are really interesting and it was something to see how desperate they were for happiness that they were pushing through the nightmare of their lives. It's also a fascinating look into how law and morality breaks down when safety, freedom, food, and shelter aren't a guarantee. It's a lot.

I am incredibly (insert adequate word here) to see a book that is set three years into our current future exist in exacerbated conditions of today. It feels like a cold bucket of water tossed over my head knowing this book was written in 1993 and we are living in a reality predicted nearly thirty years ago by an author who said THIS is exactly how it'll get worse if things don't change...uh. oof.

Anyways. Read for your own awareness and preparation. It's a book of survival through some really dire fucking situations and it's a little sobering to realize maybe perishing before it gets this bad is the ideal way because no way in hell am i doing any of THIS.

RIP to my nerves bc I am living in a nightmare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

I can’t believe it took me this long to read a book by Butler. 

The writing is engaging, the story devastating, and the whole concept deeply thought provoking. 

So much of this story is terrifying and stomach churning and yet …. 

Depressingly unsurprising.

 Maybe that’s cynical but, or maybe it’s just a shame. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ellenwilberg's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Alcohol

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail