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franklola's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Homophobia, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Body horror, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Vomit, War, Deadnaming, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Xenophobia
myclutteredbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Child abuse, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Gore, Child abuse, Blood, Slavery, Death, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Racism, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Cursing
mikayladlewis's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
stevia333k's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I came into this book wondering how to deal with a civil war situation & I came out wanting to get a good cry in about the social constructs of family. (Looking back I actually had a similar reaction with THG #1) I came to this book to cry, yet that topic shift startled me. While the plot does rely on certain technologies that don't exactly map onto our world it still has helpful info & strategies. For example the laying low & collecting info etc was inspiring & helpful in affirming lessons I had gotten.
I've also learned the teacher praxis was emphasized again. While I often hear this in reference to the GPCR & MLM (including Peru) it seems that Maoism's arena can be more generally described as "civil warfare" & political terror against people's war.
As a white disabled queer muslima feminist, this shit hits hard, especially considering that the 10 generations of enslaved people who were mentioned had muslims when they were kidnapped. Like holy shit this book touched on a mood. I read about half this book on a Friday, but it took nearly 2 weeks to read the first half. I've been busy but still.
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Antisemitism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
stephanieridiculous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
While I did not care for the new format of this book, I think it's better than Parable of the Sower. Or maybe more accurately, it's more relevant to America in 2022, and for my particular context, is more relevant to what American Christianity is becoming (has been for a long time.)
Some bullet point lists:
Things I didn't care for:
-As mentioned, I didn't really enjoy the new format. Having commentary on the journal entries didn't really work for me, even if I was very interested in the information they provided. I'm a stickler for consistent POV's, so in particular I didn't care for adding new ones in the 2nd book.
-I feel like the editing was a little less tight on this one. There were a couple of small inconsistencies that I feel like should have been caught (mostly having to do with how Sharing worked)
-I'm not sure if the characters just didn't pull me, or if the amount of violence in general made it hard to feel any particular loss, but lots of bad things happen to important characters and I didn't really feel the weight of it. I cry while reading books all. the. time. and I didn't shed a single tear, despite from significant blows. I am unsure if that's a reflection of me or the writing.
Things I did care for/or got to me:
-There is still the pure shock factor that I didn't much care for in book one, but it's used much more effectively here. While I felt Parable was making a point, it felt like a vague general one, where Talents is making a very specific, and very relevant, point about America, the government, zealous religion, and particularly violent Christianity. Butler gut punches you with the reality of violence in a way that really drives home how close we are to it in the real world.
-The world felt more balanced here than it did in Parable; more tangible and believable.
-As a Christian in America in 2022; the Crusader's are a harrowing potential - that I 100% believe could actually happen/is already happening to some extent. Butler's writing of a Christian fanatic running for president is horrifying in it's accuracy & I am much more haunted now by the phrase "Make America great again." In particular, I think the way the Crusaders are depicted is so accurate it hurts. The hypocrisy, the blind faith, the stupidity - just open Twitter and you'll see the same thing in real time. It's so so so sad to see it lived out in real life, and it's disheartening. Maddening.
-I really did like the ending. It felt resolved, but not clean. It's messy and disappointing, but also hopeful. I was a little worried about how the book could resolve satisfyingly given the scope of Earthseed, but I think it addressed things well.
I think the resurgence of these books is 100% spot on, and with some caveats for caring for your mental health, I'd definitely encourage my (white) Christian friends to try and read these two books, but especially Talents.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
irgendwieantonia's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Police brutality, Torture, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Kidnapping
apollos_books's review
- 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
5.0
this book as all the content warnings though. like literally. read with care and caution
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Incest, Gore, Kidnapping, and Murder
doomluz's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Child abuse, Outing, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Murder, Torture, Rape, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Slavery
kpletscher's review
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, Child death, and Rape
Minor: Racism and Addiction