Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

308 reviews

zydecovivo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I’m sure I have heard of this book before this year, but I wasn’t convinced until I read Star Child, a biography of Octavia E. Butler. After finishing, I wish I had read this in high school. It’s dark and dismal. But Lauren’s journey feels more real than any other dystopian novel I’ve read. The future Butler portrays also feels more real than any other I’ve seen. It is almost prophetic, especially since I am writing this in the year 2024, mere months before the novel starts. The world is ravaged by climate change, corrupt governments, addiction and illness, and a society in the process of crumbling. Lauren is a young adult who has known nothing else except the stories the older adults have told her about a bygone golden age. And she needs to survive. Could there be anything more relatable to anyone born in the last 30 years? I immediately borrowed the second book and am excited to see what’s next. I can also see why this could be seen as a religious text. I feel like this novel as a whole is one where you could re-read multiple times and still find new meanings and subtext every time. This is one I want to buy for my bookshelf and is added to my favorites list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Slavery

bookishevy'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? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Octavia Butler has yet to disappoint me. I finished Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) last night just as Women's History Month was drawing to a close, and I loved it.

The story starts in July 2024. Teenager Lauren Olamina and her family live in a gated community just outside Los Angeles. Beyond their wall is total social chaos. Diseases, drugs, everythjng's expensive, especially water, which has become scarce due to climate change. There's hardly any work, so vagabonds steal, kill, and set things and people on fire. On top of all this, Lauren suffers from hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extra sensitive to others' sensations Their community does all it can to keep dangers from breaching its barriers, but when things get dire, Lauren and survivors must venture outside and make their way north with hopes of a better future.

This is a different kind of book from Butler. It's science fiction, but, for me, with the exception of Lauren's ability to physically feel what others feel, it's too real. The world Butler envisions in 2024 is scary, and although we're not there yet, I can see it happening. Lauren's odyssey takes her and others she meets while migrating to northern California through many dangers. Everyone she meets has a story about what led to them hitting the road. Themes of these stories include racism, classism and slavery. The story paints a bleak picture of the future of humans. TW: violence, rape, canibalism. And Lauren feels everything around her. A disability. 

But in a world that breeds hopelessness, Lauren is still optimistic about the future and is working on building a community that will live on principles she discovered. Even with all the anarchy around them, Lauren and her people still find ways to be kind and love on one another, which is hard to envision, because I was like, "How can they be having sex while surrounded by death?" But you know what? In situations like those, you have to grab happiness wherever and whenever you find it. Lauren's outlook and her willingness to trust others gave me hope, which is good because this is all very possible. LOL!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

ams5x9's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Sexual assault, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Incest, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cannibalism, Racism, and Police brutality

thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Child death

Minor: Vomit

rauvolfia's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Slavery, Child death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

tobias_ewing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide

maggiegirouard's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Animal death, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Drug abuse, Rape, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, and Gun violence

lindseygcarden's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Infertility, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Classism, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Incest, and Pregnancy

maxicosi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Racism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Abortion, Outing, Animal death, and Blood

ashleybakerwrites's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is everything The Road by Cormac McCarthy wished it could have been. I'd say this is going to go down as one of those books that never really stops being talked about. It's my first Octavia Butler, but I immediately can tell why people are drawn to her writing style at the least. Loved the big concepts for a young girl- and although she was mature for her age- there were always things that kept it believable. It's definitely not a light read- read the TWs, nothing really happens "on-screen" it's talked about from a journaled perspective of what is going on. While the stuff about Earthseed may grate against some people's sensibilities, if you read this understanding it's not supposed to convert you to anything, you'll get around it. My favorite scenes were those that actually happened on the road. The village bits are so necessary for context, and Octavia really gets you into 'normal' before you are forced from safety. I loved almost everything about this book. I'd recommend the audio book- but I think you might experience this a bit more intensely by reading it more slowly. There is a way older, barely legal romance that develops at the end of the book- but in the time period/frame of reference it's respectful. Maybe could have done without that, but I think Octavia was trying to FOIL and be realistic with that one. So I wouldn't avoid the book because of that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, and Alcoholism