Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

491 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

It's no wonder why this book is having such a resurgence right now. Parts of it were really hard to read - brutally violent, scary, and sad - but it all felt worthwhile, never gratuitous for the sake of it. Every hard word drove home the savage reality of the country that the protagonist and her family are living in. It may have been written in 1993 about the U.S. in the years 2024-27, but if someone told me this was written in 2020 about those same years, I'd believe it. I only hope this story doesn't turn out to be prophetic because it hit way too close to home. 

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adventurous challenging dark tense 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: Yes

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dark sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Definitely an interesting read given the state of the world and the direction we are headed - it reflects a lot of my climate anxiety. There was one weird age-gap romance that i didn't think was necessary, but im just gonna pretend that doesnt exist. The pacing also felt weird to me - it felt like a lot was happening, but also nothing was happening at the same time. I enjoyed the audiobook - i think if i didnt do the audio version, i mightve DNF'ed it though.

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Complicated

My first 5-star read of 2025. So poignant, and it genuinely felt almost prophetic at times with how similar some of the events in the book are to current events; and only a few of those felt like extreme versions of current events. Many of them felt like...right now.
But, to speak of the story itself, I really fell in love with the main character. Her sharing ability reminded me of the importance of radical empathy and of the importance of building community and mutual aid. It was introspective, soft at times, terrifying at times, spoke of the lengths that parents will go to to protect and care for their children (as well as some horrible things parents can do to children), and overall nigh impossible to put down.
I read this via audiobook, but am planning to get a physical copy that I can reread and annotate later in the year; see how much is still the same as in this incredible and yet terrifying book!

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adventurous challenging dark 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: No

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous challenging reflective sad 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: Yes

I figured I would read this book in light of everything that is going on in the U.S. politically. It has been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. I enjoy reading dystopian novels and hearing the year "2025" written as if it's light-years away was kind of jarring. Butler does a great job of developing characters and relationships. There is also a clear understanding of the MC motivation. I feel like this is something I should have read in school if it weren't for the sex scenes. It cover the social, economic, and political downfall of the U.S. It is kind of creepy reading some of the beliefs of the President from the novel in comparison to our newly installed felon in chief. I highly recommend this novel to anyone that is looking for a good read. 

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dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A delicate balancing act between prescient terrors of the future and inspired insight of the artist. The stubborn, youthful hope that Octavia Butler infuses into her protagonist is both necessary as a contrast against the darkest parts of her (Butler’s) imagination and serves as a reminder that the most challenged, most vulnerable members of our society have the greatest insight into its machinations. 

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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