Reviews

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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madi22w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

making a mental note to come back to this review, but some questions to start us off:
what is the importance of asha’s POV?
how did the added entries from marc & bankole impact the story?
how did asha’s view of lauren impact our view of lauren?

okay back to review this… many mixed emotions. the first time i tried to read this i could not get through it.. i knew lauren had flaws but i was like “?? who does she think she is, she doesn’t know anything!!” in response to asha calling her self-centered and stuff. but then after rereading parable of the sower i was like ? wtf was i talking about, it makes sense that shitty things would happen to them and lauren could very possibly have been a shitty mom.. but now after reading it…. like i was kinda right the first time who does she think she is??? what does she even know about earthseed?? LOL i have much more empathy for asha after fully reading it, and i actually relate to her story a lot!! and it’s very important to consider lauren’s flaws, and i think asha’s story was also very important and her POV makes sense for her character!!! i was just mad @ her.. it was so satisfying to be able to be mad at her while understanding her though… thank you octavia <3

sarahavah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful

5.0

maddie_oz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring medium-paced

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

4.25

richelleski's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

bethmalena's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.75

It took me a long time to finish. I love Butler but this wasn’t my fave. The pacing felt strange to me, and I wanted more of a reason for daughter to be so antagonistic toward mother after reading all the diary entries. But I will say the “Christian America” was eerily prescient…

lisacanteven's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

This series is now my favorite series of all time. I'm having a hard time choosing if I liked the first book or this book better, but I think I liked the first book a little better. The reason is that I did think the ending was a little bit rushed. I don't think it was too rushed, but if I was forced to choose which book I liked more and why that would be my reason.

I was afraid that this book would end on a huge cliffhanger considering there was supposed to be a third that was never finished before Octavia Butler's death. I'm happy to say that this book could have easily finished the series, and no one would be disappointed. I was so relieved about that, and I thought the way everything wrapped up (except for being a tad bit rushed) was done brilliantly.

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