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Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief
Minor: Slavery, Blood, Police brutality
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Matter of fact, her works are the blueprint of what science fiction is now.
I can see shadows of Parable of the Sower in newer books like Dry by Neal Shusterman.
Her understand of the human condition, people’s reactions to oppression, excess & lack and the patterns of human behaviour is more insightful than most.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Trafficking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
My only criticism is that the gender and sexuality politics were cisheteronormative in a way that gives away the year it was written. Everything else feels so current that it's hard to believe this came out in the early 90's.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Rape
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.
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, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
I kept thinking of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as I read this. The post-apocalyptic world is just as well-developed and you root for the main characters in the same way as they struggle to survive. I’d even say it’s a more interesting book because it considers race, gender, social inequality, etc. (not to mention the main character, Lauren’s, hyperempathy). It seems like the only reason Parable of the Sower is not as widely read as The Road is because it’s by a Black woman author with characters that are mostly people of color. I think it’s more worth reading for that reason.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent
Moderate: Incest, Racism, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail