Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

94 reviews

nvrrrdie's review against another edition

I can't really review this. It was more graphic than I could really handle and I still forced myself to read it, I don't think it was worth it to me. I really wanted to finish it because it was spoken of so highly as literature, and I think I can understand why, Butler's world is a strong and interesting one but I can't really judge this book objectively.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

melitrophium's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Scarily contemporary for a book that was published in 1993 (especially because the setting starts in 2024). 

"I was looking for God,” I said. “I wasn’t looking for mythology or mysticism or magic. I didn’t know whether there was a god to find, but I wanted to know. God would have to be a power that could not be defied by anyone or anything.”

  “Change.”
  “Change, yes,”

Interestingly enough, my beliefs share a lot with the religion the main character is founding. Although I'm not a fan of religion, and if I'm turning to a metaphysical word I'd sooner call it magic than god. She seems to sort of agree with this:

“Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures. Worship is no good without action. With action, it’s only useful if it steadies you, focuses your efforts, eases your mind.”

Overall I loved the worldbuilding. The pace was a bit too slow for my liking. The characters could sometimes feel flat, but that's to be expected since they aren't very free to act and feel (being constantly in dire situations and all). I have high hopes for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Racism, and Police brutality

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Incest, Racism, Police brutality, and Trafficking

lisacanteven's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

This is my first Octavia Butler book to read, and I wish I had done so sooner. This book is brilliant. I am not sure what I was expecting, maybe Octavia's prose to be a bit less accessible. But I just clicked with it right away, and I think that is very important when writing a book that is such a powerful glimpse into our country and the faults that it has. Sure, we aren't there yet but we could be in the future. Lauren was such an intriguing character. Dare I say that I loved her? I think I did. Her strength and tenacity had me cheering for her the whole time. Does that mean I would be a great cult member? I won't look too deeply into that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, and Alcohol

ikiteahill's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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? No

5.0

This book was hard to read. It's billed as scifi/fantasy but it's really more focused on a dystoipian society. Taking place in the USA starting in the year 2024, it's an alternate universe but parts of it hit really close to home with how eerily similar they are to society today. Some of the content was hard to stomach. But it brings up such interesting philosophical concepts. Like, what is God? What is religion? What does that do for people? What is human nature? How do we respond as a species under threat? You have to be in the right mindset to read this one but it's worth reading. I think this one will stick with me for a while, even if I'm not sure I'm ready to read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

This was a great introduction into Octavia Butler for me. The writing style was gripping and the characters were fantastic. The plot was heavy but in a realistic way (especially for a dystopian, it made sense and is even more eerie to read in 2024). I wasn’t a big fan of the “starting a religion” stuff, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ams5x9's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror, Incest, Racism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

lindseygcarden's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ashleybakerwrites's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is everything The Road by Cormac McCarthy wished it could have been. I'd say this is going to go down as one of those books that never really stops being talked about. It's my first Octavia Butler, but I immediately can tell why people are drawn to her writing style at the least. Loved the big concepts for a young girl- and although she was mature for her age- there were always things that kept it believable. It's definitely not a light read- read the TWs, nothing really happens "on-screen" it's talked about from a journaled perspective of what is going on. While the stuff about Earthseed may grate against some people's sensibilities, if you read this understanding it's not supposed to convert you to anything, you'll get around it. My favorite scenes were those that actually happened on the road. The village bits are so necessary for context, and Octavia really gets you into 'normal' before you are forced from safety. I loved almost everything about this book. I'd recommend the audio book- but I think you might experience this a bit more intensely by reading it more slowly. There is a way older, barely legal romance that develops at the end of the book- but in the time period/frame of reference it's respectful. Maybe could have done without that, but I think Octavia was trying to FOIL and be realistic with that one. So I wouldn't avoid the book because of that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, and Rape

chealey14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape