Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

25 reviews

lisacanteven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This series is now my favorite series of all time. I'm having a hard time choosing if I liked the first book or this book better, but I think I liked the first book a little better. The reason is that I did think the ending was a little bit rushed. I don't think it was too rushed, but if I was forced to choose which book I liked more and why that would be my reason. 

I was afraid that this book would end on a huge cliffhanger considering there was supposed to be a third that was never finished before Octavia Butler's death. I'm happy to say that this book could have easily finished the series, and no one would be disappointed. I was so relieved about that, and I thought the way everything wrapped up (except for being a tad bit rushed) was done brilliantly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Classism, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Body horror, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Violence, and War

blessi'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Rape, Slavery, War, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Addiction

badbadwolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Slavery, Abandonment, Classism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Confinement, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking

haerin's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

kinda wild how much closer we get to the america octavia butler wrote about in the late 90s. so many aspects of what happens is so relevant to today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Slavery, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, War, and Trafficking

Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Car accident

samdalefox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Just as exceptional as the first book.

Although the series works as a duology, I was surprised Butler didn't write more so I looked it up. Apparently she envisioned a seven part series! That's how long Earthseed was imagined to fully resolve. Source: https://electricliterature.com/now-more-than-ever-we-wish-we-had-these-lost-octavia-butler-novels/ I feel sad we will never get to hear the rest of the Earthseed story, but I'm also glad to have the existing series to the highest standard.

The Parable of the Talents reads just as well as the first one and predominently focuses on the difficulty of maintaining their community and advancing Earthseed. There are very clear historical references to the injustices suffered by Black and Indigenous people, which should also set alarm bells ringing in contemporary readers as we start to see the same signs of Christo-facism in the West now. Without ruining the plot, I appreciated the 'positive' ending as it felt realistic. It was at once hopeful, aspirational, yet also sombre. Butler hinted at the sacrifices and consequences of attaining such the achievement.

I enjoyed gaining the perspective of Lauren's daughter, I think that was a clever move and showed how others' perceived Lauren besides those that directly support or oppose her theology. I do understand the symbolism of the Christian 'parable of the talents' (The Bible, Matthew 25:14–30) but I was surprised that the book ended with that verse, mirroring the choice to end with the respective verse in Parable of the Sower. To me, it felt like it was saying the ultimate motivation behind Lauren was still her Christian beliefs, not Earthseed at all, which felt wrong to me. Perhaps this choice would have evolved as the series did, we will never know. In summary, I loved it, definitely read it.

I will add all my favourite quotes from the book here at a later date (there are so many of them!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Torture, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Grief, Medical trauma, Sexism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Confinement, Murder, and Religious bigotry

rosemarykiessling's review

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, War, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pedophilia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death

hayleemarie's review

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

tinaxcuevas's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.0

In comparison to Parable of the Sower this plot in this book moves a little slower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, and Racism

fluoresensitive's review against another edition

I read the summary on Wikipedia. No. Im sure it's very good and important, but no. I literally cannot handle this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, and Sexual harassment

derik_rochlitzer's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Classism, Death, Addiction, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Rape, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, and War