Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

56 reviews

helliepad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective fast-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

4.75

I never cared for science fiction or survivalist/dystopian novels but for some reason this book hit the spot. Maybe it's because Octavia E. Butler took great care in emphasizing community action and compassion as a way to save ourselves from our own premeditated hellfires. Maybe it's because the events of this book really do read like my current Twitter feed and newspapers. Maybe it's just really great, well-resewrched and thought out writing. Either way this was great and I highly recommend it but do mind the warnings for the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

Amazing, thought provoking yet simplistic writing. Its a shame how relevant this book still is 30 years later. A truly brilliant work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Trafficking, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Rape, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Torture

decklededgess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

trigger warnings: incest, rape, physical abuse, death of family, gore and injury description, sexual content, drug use and abuse, arson and fire, racism, sexism, murder, enslavement, cannibalism, child abuse, trafficking, suicide, gun violence, and more probably.

Before I get into my doom and gloom reaction let me just say that terrifying as this book is, it's incredibly well thought out and the cause and effect of what leads to the situations in this book are rooted in very realistic patterns. The cast of characters are really interesting and it was something to see how desperate they were for happiness that they were pushing through the nightmare of their lives. It's also a fascinating look into how law and morality breaks down when safety, freedom, food, and shelter aren't a guarantee. It's a lot.

I am incredibly (insert adequate word here) to see a book that is set three years into our current future exist in exacerbated conditions of today. It feels like a cold bucket of water tossed over my head knowing this book was written in 1993 and we are living in a reality predicted nearly thirty years ago by an author who said THIS is exactly how it'll get worse if things don't change...uh. oof.

Anyways. Read for your own awareness and preparation. It's a book of survival through some really dire fucking situations and it's a little sobering to realize maybe perishing before it gets this bad is the ideal way because no way in hell am i doing any of THIS.

RIP to my nerves bc I am living in a nightmare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

starccato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

dugfromthedirt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Classism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pregnancy, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Vomit, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Classism, and Misogyny

katiebartmess's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

2.5

This book did what it was supposed to do: which was be deeply unsettling. First half of the book was a little hard to push through because it was pretty slow. Definitely picked up half way through but in a very dark nature. The writing was pretty incredible, the story just lacked a little bit in my opinion. Important to remember that this was written thirty years ago, it easily felt like it was written within the last five years just because of how spot on some of these predictions were. One of my biggest hesitations about this book is Lauren’s relationship with her father

and how strongly she reveres him as a good man. He is deeply flawed and even abusive. Admittedly as a victim of that it would make sense for Lauren not to see his faults. However the reader gets a high level understanding from their own observations and from character’s perspective about both obvious and nuanced problems in this dystopian world. Commentary is made on religious abuse of power, murder, racism, sexism, rape, greed etc through the entire book, practically on every page. But Lauren (who I believe we are supposed to think of as extremely mature for her age (also debatable)) never once confronts her father’s participation in the continuation of the world and culture that she so strongly resents.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Body horror, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

drinaiscold's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, Child death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Blood, Sexual assault, Murder, Animal death, Violence, Racism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Racism, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexism, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Trafficking, and Suicidal thoughts

jojo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Rape, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Trafficking, War, and Infidelity

chloebethx_'s review against another edition

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

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

I read Dawn by Octavia Butler during my freshman year in college and swore to myself I would read more of her work but I never got around to it until now. For that, I’m kicking myself. This book was hard to get through because the allegory of what could happen in the future is a much closer reality than I had hoped. This story is a warning, a premonition, a glimpse into a very scary future. Exploring themes of government corruption, climate change, extreme poverty, inability to live without creature comforts, drug abuse, and violence Butler tells a story that in many ways doesn’t seem that far off from being a reality. The characters are well-developed and easy to love and the story is terrible yet truthful. I can’t wait to read more of this series and more of Butler’s work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Death