Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

436 reviews

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

rachelle_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.5

Here’s some dystopian fiction that feels awfully prescient about our current times. Written in 1993, this book starts in July 2024 and unfolds over a few years’ time. It’s the first part of a duology, and I do plan to read the next book. 

The characters and the plot kept me turning the pages, as well as the protagonist’s consideration of religion and meaning in life. There is a lot of violence in this book, including many deaths on the page. The protagonist reports these in a matter of fact way. But never fear - somehow, we feel hopeful at the end, seeing the seeds of humanity poking through the awful destruction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

aniloracccc's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Cannibalism

3littlewordz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

I was utterly spellbound reading Parable of the Sower. There was an uncomfortable level of parallels between the book Octavia Butler wrote in 1993 to society today, particularly after starting this book for the first time on July 20, 2024. Even at her young age, Lauren Olamina knew that society would continue to devolve, even when the adults in her neighborhood kept their heads in the sand. The book was unsettling for me for so many reasons, most importantly because I am not ready for this type of collapse of society, and we're incredibly close to this occurring if things don't change SOON. Octavia's vision was so easy to visualize because we're so close to it!  

Lauren's narration was clear and poignant - she knew what was coming, and knew what to do when the time came. She also had a quiet, determined resolve that made her a survivor and contributed to her philosophy. She also welcomed community/chosen family, even in circumstances where trusting new people could prove deadly.

I did wonder why Earthseed was approached as a religion instead of a philosophy. It would seem "God is change" and her assertion that her 'religion' was change wouldn't rise to the definition of a religion, but I'm looking at it from my understanding of religion. She spoke a bit about Destiny being among the stars and at times it did seem she meant this literally, so maybe that's where religion comes in. Bankole actually mentioned this during her first explanation of Earthseed.

My only ick is the age gap between Lauren and Bankole. This is the second book of Octavia's that I've read where she introduces either an actual large age gap or the appearance of one. This is one of the few tropes I hate to see in books. I understand that Lauren probably gravitated to Bankole because he reminded her of her father, but no. Nah. I don't want to see it. I want to read more of Octavia's work, but not if that will continue to be included.

I wonder what a newer version of this story (complete with the influence of social media) would look like.... how much mis- and disinformation would be included to make everything 1000x worse. Either way, this work can be utilized as a look into the future, both as a warning and a deterrent. I hope as many people as possible take it as such. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Trafficking

bookwormdystopian2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, and Death of parent

amelody's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

anxiousutopian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

murve's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual content

melitrophium's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Scarily contemporary for a book that was published in 1993 (especially because the setting starts in 2024). 

"I was looking for God,” I said. “I wasn’t looking for mythology or mysticism or magic. I didn’t know whether there was a god to find, but I wanted to know. God would have to be a power that could not be defied by anyone or anything.”

  “Change.”
  “Change, yes,”

Interestingly enough, my beliefs share a lot with the religion the main character is founding. Although I'm not a fan of religion, and if I'm turning to a metaphysical word I'd sooner call it magic than god. She seems to sort of agree with this:

“Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures. Worship is no good without action. With action, it’s only useful if it steadies you, focuses your efforts, eases your mind.”

Overall I loved the worldbuilding. The pace was a bit too slow for my liking. The characters could sometimes feel flat, but that's to be expected since they aren't very free to act and feel (being constantly in dire situations and all). I have high hopes for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Racism, and Police brutality