Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

25 reviews

clovelatte's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

it’s been weeks and I’m still thinking about this book. Reading this in 2023, the year before the events of the book, is more than a little spooky. We’re not quite there but gosh does it feel possible. I think there’s so much here about the human spirit in crisis and ways our systems of oppression enact violence on all of us. I’ve already requested the second book and I’m gutted that Octavia never got to finish the third. Definitely would recommend if dystopian fiction is your thing and as someone with religious traumas I found it particularly interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Death, Pedophilia, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Abandonment, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

aleksanski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship

conspiracycrows's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Reading this, in 2023 as a 25 year old is eerie. Especially when the main character was born the same year as your younger sibling. This book will set you on edge, make you think, and remind you in so many ways that people are people.
Evil, angry, barbaric
And
Kind, good, thoughtful 
You will find the phrase "god is change" drifting through your thiughts no matter your religion, because no matter your religion something about it rings true. 
The one true constant in this world is change. 
And in accepting that we can begin to use that change. 
I hope, pray, and work to make sure a future like the one in this book never comes to pass. That as much as this world changes, I can at least guide my small portion of it to something softer. 
If enough of us do that, perhaps we can make a world that is kinder, that is softer. 
A world where someone with hyper empathy, whether the extreme syndrome detailed here, or the real life symptom of some neurodivergent people like myself, do not have to be afraid of seeing the world around us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Body horror, Drug abuse, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Suicide, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Trafficking, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Classism

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Grief, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Vomit, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Domestic abuse, Grief, Excrement, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Cannibalism, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

plainpaige's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning work, gripping, remarkably prescient for its time. Butler may have had the timeline off by a few years, and been too optimistic about the pace of climate change, but she clearly saw the coming downturn of society that we're living through. We would all do well to read this enthralling book and follow its characters' example of preparing for, finding, building, and protecting community when societal safeguards fail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Addiction, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Racism, Incest, Infidelity, Death of parent, Excrement, Police brutality, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Sexism

elia_elizabeth_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Slavery, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, and Rape

decklededgess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

trigger warnings: incest, rape, physical abuse, death of family, gore and injury description, sexual content, drug use and abuse, arson and fire, racism, sexism, murder, enslavement, cannibalism, child abuse, trafficking, suicide, gun violence, and more probably.

Before I get into my doom and gloom reaction let me just say that terrifying as this book is, it's incredibly well thought out and the cause and effect of what leads to the situations in this book are rooted in very realistic patterns. The cast of characters are really interesting and it was something to see how desperate they were for happiness that they were pushing through the nightmare of their lives. It's also a fascinating look into how law and morality breaks down when safety, freedom, food, and shelter aren't a guarantee. It's a lot.

I am incredibly (insert adequate word here) to see a book that is set three years into our current future exist in exacerbated conditions of today. It feels like a cold bucket of water tossed over my head knowing this book was written in 1993 and we are living in a reality predicted nearly thirty years ago by an author who said THIS is exactly how it'll get worse if things don't change...uh. oof.

Anyways. Read for your own awareness and preparation. It's a book of survival through some really dire fucking situations and it's a little sobering to realize maybe perishing before it gets this bad is the ideal way because no way in hell am i doing any of THIS.

RIP to my nerves bc I am living in a nightmare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

starccato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

dugfromthedirt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Classism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Vomit, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Classism, and Misogyny

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Much better than anything Heinlein ever wrote. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Police brutality

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Medical content, and Slavery

Minor: Incest