Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

494 reviews

luciferlibrarian_93's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Complicated

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Reading this as my first book of 2025 was a choice, but it was such a great read. Terrifying. But great. At times the scenarios and thoughts of the characters struck very similar to today’s world (the book is literally set from 2024-2027ish).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Sexual content

kaelaxsuga's review against another edition

4.75

dark hopeful informative reflective sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Racism, Cannibalism

sapphicsquirrel's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder

rebeccaweger's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark hopeful sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Classism

brandynk's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

melluzyne's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use

Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit

lamestmaggie's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark hopeful tense fast-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: No

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I don't think another book will stick with me as solidly as "Parable of the Sower" will. Set in the not too distant future where life in the USA is bleak, violent, and worsening; due to wealth inequality, climate change, labor abuse. While the book is undeniably dark, Blake presents a message of personal action that is inspiring and motivating, even in the darkest of times. Blake challenges everyone to be the actor in their own life, in their own community, and not to wait for the next politician to save us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder

danielle6323's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense slow-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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Slavery

Minor: Cursing, Cannibalism, Classism

s_armstrong's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism

serena_hien's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content