Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

63 reviews

loxeletters's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A very interesting look into a contemporary world falling apart: how slavery would play out in the modern day; the effects of chemical drug use, climate change, lack of information; the slow breakdown of the state. Related to this, the protagonist explores some very interesting ideas about religion and philosophy. 

There is an age gap romance in this that made me somewhat uncomfortable, and I would have liked to see some exploration of the world beyond the United States. (Even with the limited communication technology available in the setting, I would expect at least some knowledge about the rest of the world. Esp. given that they do have a TV in the beginning, plus radio.) This might be simply an accurate portrayal of American news coverage, though it  speaks nevertheless to the general issue of US American self-centredness. Hopefully the sequel will give some insights here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Rape, Cannibalism, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual content

mgrim10's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Gun violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Racism

mmestitches's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Powerful boo, but stressful to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Classism, Ableism, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Incest, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Murder, Grief, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, War, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Rape, Gore, Police brutality, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, and Dysphoria

throwback682's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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

4.0

Reading this book in the year before its action takes place is both troubling and validating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child death, Body horror, Classism, Drug abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Slavery

Moderate: Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Racism

The violence that comes as people scramble and fight for resources at the end of the world is expected but

an 18 year old girl being with a 50+ yo man was creepy, unnecessary, unexpected, and kind of took me out of the story.

maameadwubi's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

3.0

This book is incredibly bleak; Octavia Butler was incredibly prescient and the parallels between this book and our potential reality made it even more horrifying/scary to read. I wasn’t aware of what I was getting into when I started reading it and had to put it down halfway through to spark not a the rest. 
Will be dealing with nightmares for the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Body horror, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cannibalism, Slavery, Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Vomit, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Racism, and Suicide

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.75

Plot: 4.5★
Prose: 4.5★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.75★
Ending: 4.75★

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Gore, Infertility, Pedophilia, Suicide, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Excrement

sarahsbookstacks's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Death, Violence, Suicide, Slavery, and Rape

aleksanski's review

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

caseylovett's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

Minor: Torture, Physical abuse, and Cannibalism

jabakken's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Slavery, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Suicide attempt, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence