Reviews - Parable of the Sower

23.5k reviews for:

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler

4.25 AVERAGE

amy_bc's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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

This was harrowing to read in 2025. A world with rising food prices, limited water, rampant fires, a climate in crisis, space exploration and the possible colonization of Mars, a newly elected President Donner…good lord how was this written in 1993 and not a detailed depiction of current events. There was so much throughout this story that had me looking at the events of the last year and seeing so many parallels. The depths of depravity that were described in this story were gut wrenching. I think of the atrocities that are occurring in Palestine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and I know that we don’t have to rely on futuristic fiction to witness the levels of evil that humans can achieve. There isn’t a point in history that we haven’t shown how immoral humans can truly be.

Throughout this there was still a beautiful amount of hope. How Lauren’s grave pessimism slowly erodes as she embraces the few people around her. The connections and trust she is able to grow within her group. Lauren has lived her life hiding such an important part of who she is and not only does she find people who accept her, all of her, but she finds others like herself. There was great growth for Lauren, a wonderful sense of self discovery and acceptance and her ideas about faith and God were truly astounding.

All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change.

An utterly remarkable tale that will leave you devastated, destroyed and disgusted but absolutely determined to journey into the unknown with these characters.

michellenass's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

infinite_finite's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

fionaereads's review against another edition

3.5

medium-paced

zooted_frenchfry's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous reflective 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: Complicated

valpacheco's review against another edition

4.75

Truly topical and scary story for these times. Octavia Butler definitely predicted many aspects of the future well and synthesized them through her novel as a mirror to our society today. I appreciate the hope that shines through in such a tough novel to read and I can’t wait to read the second installment