Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler, Damian Duffy

47 reviews

what_karla_reads's review

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

eugenegm's review

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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 The Parable of the sower has become even more prophetic as time has moved on. Our world is more like Butler's world than ever before, and if we don't act now to make the changes we need to, we can all look forward to a world that is nothing but rape, torture, and endless enslavement to the rich. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Xenophobia

bookishsleepyhead's review

4.0

dark reflective tense fast-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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault

koreanlinda's review

4.0

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This is my second time reading this book, and I felt only more disturbed by it than the first time around because now it is 2025. The world in Lauren's life seems more dystopian than the US at the moment, but not much different. The dystopian world, imagined and written in 1993, has now become a reality. The corporate greed and violence, climate disasters (massive fire in California), human trafficking, and refugees moving north especially felt very real, too real. 

If you read this book in the '90s, it would have served as a good warning for how things can go wrong in the future. But what can you do if you are living it now? (The story is set in 2024-2027.) Well, it could get worse. It is easy for us to deny that possibility because we don't want it to get worse, but that does not stop it from happening. Would you build a community like Lauren or just sit and watch? 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in February 2025
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence

multipullsofnikki's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Loved this graphic novel. 

I haven't read the novel yet and I'm looking forward to seeing what the editor chose to keep vs get rid of for this adaption. 

This book is great if you like reading fiction about end times/possible end times and the found family theme. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence

zantoryu's review

4.75

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Murder, War, Classism

maryellen's review

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

bespokeremote's review

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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: No

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Have read the original book several times and it's a favorite. This adaptation is very good, and I will probably also read this many times. The art itself evokes a lot of emotion, especially appreciate the way hyperempathy is drawn. I deeply love the prominence of the earthseed verses, almost a shortcut to that information that's not so easily/quickly found when reading the original book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail

jjvaldezbooks's review

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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slightly less my style of book than kindred. i feel like if I had more biblical knowledge I might have vibed with it more but I'm a long-lapsed Catholic 

devastating story of a young woman trying to survive the end of capitalism/her world. it's not quite hopeful, but god does it make you grit your teeth and want to do something about this shit

intrigued by the real world study of Earthseed as a religion that I've seen online, excited to go back and explore that

(I didn't like the art again. sorry.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Torture

la_reads_audiobooks's review

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This is my third reading of "Parable of the Sower", but my first in this form. I think this adaptation is true to the original, and the art conveys the dystopian and intense mood of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder

It's a little too close to home!