Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

12 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

bass_clarinet's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

• 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

Beautiful and spiritual. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Genocide, Kidnapping, Death, Police brutality, Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Misogyny, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Gun violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Cursing, War, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Classism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Confinement, Pregnancy, Death, and Sexual violence

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

To hear the phrase “make America great again” flowing from the pages of a book published in 1998 is haunting to say the least. I greatly appreciated the exploration of Christian extremism in relation to Laurens Earthseed, but as with the last book, I really wish there was more explanation for what appears to me as an incredibly  flawed and power imbalanced relationship between Bankole and Lauren

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Grief, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Torture, Gore, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, War, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

this book was so heartbreaking and painful. very terrifying how realistic this feels for the beginning of 2024, octavia butler is a genius. 
i very painfully related to asha and understood her complex feelings with her mother and the ways she prioritized earthseed, even if i wanted to fucking kill marc.
i think i would have be an earthseed hater but also i would absolutely join. community is everything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, War, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Slavery, Misogyny, Murder, Incest, Pedophilia, Torture, Ableism, Child death, Death, Police brutality, and Miscarriage

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, War, Pedophilia, Death, Medical trauma, Violence, Slavery, and Misogyny

eve81's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Death, Medical content, Sexual assault, Blood, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Racism, Rape, Torture, Infertility, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Classism, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

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

derik_rochlitzer's review against another edition

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

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

While I enjoyed Parable of the Sower more, I still found this dystopian novel to be reflective in many ways of our present day society. This book is difficult to read. It is interesting and important. It is a tale of selfishness and selflessness, love and hate, truth and lies. It is mortifying to imagine life like this, but also just barely outside the scope of what could happen, which makes it some of the best dystopian literature that exists. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Sexism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Rape, Hate crime, War, Transphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Outing, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Animal death

plainpaige's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I think I liked this book more than its predecessor, despite the often disturbing, challenging storyline. Butler again made predictions that seem to be coming true to some degree. I enjoyed this book's foray into the politics of a crumbling society, though I suspect it may be difficult for some people who endorse Christianity to swallow. I love a good cautionary tale, though, and if you can struggle through the hard concepts, you will be rewarded with a beautiful story of the human experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Medical content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Confinement, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, Gun violence, Pregnancy, War, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Addiction, Excrement, Infidelity, Infertility, Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Colonisation