Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

136 reviews

thatenbyisisreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

2.75

Overall, I loved that this book shed light to the harsh truth of the state of our planet and the importance of community when it comes to survival within the state of our environment. However, I thought it was totally unnecessary of the author to add a weird relationship between the 57-year-old and the 18-year-old mc and to add the I slur twice. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Body horror

dean_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Abandonment, Blood, War, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Bullying, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Drug use, Genocide, Pregnancy, Addiction, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, and Stalking

evjohn13's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Trafficking, Child death, Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Slavery

mxkanteven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Ms. Octavia E. Butler is at the pinnacle of Sci-fi.

Matter of fact, her works are the blueprint of what science fiction is now.

I can see shadows of Parable of the Sower in newer books like Dry by Neal Shusterman.

Her understand of the human condition, people’s reactions to oppression, excess & lack and the patterns of human behaviour is more insightful than most.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Hate crime

aerolich's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Classism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Gore, Kidnapping, and Child abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Grief, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent, Excrement, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Vomit, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Domestic abuse, Grief, Excrement, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Cannibalism, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

plainpaige's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A stunning work, gripping, remarkably prescient for its time. Butler may have had the timeline off by a few years, and been too optimistic about the pace of climate change, but she clearly saw the coming downturn of society that we're living through. We would all do well to read this enthralling book and follow its characters' example of preparing for, finding, building, and protecting community when societal safeguards fail. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Addiction, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Racism, Incest, Infidelity, Death of parent, Excrement, Police brutality, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Sexism

ruffian23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Violence, Rape, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, and Slavery

lara_bk's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Racism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Child abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Suicide

nannahnannah's review against another edition

4.0

As always with Octavia E. Butler (or as what’s starting to become “as always”), this book has left me with a lot to think about, many screenshots of passages to think more about even later, and it has left me knowing that, written by someone else, the contradictory moral issues it tiptoes would probably either not be handled well or written with a very black-and-white point of view.

Representation:
- the MC and the LI are black, as are a few secondary characters
- there are also Asian and Latine secondary characters

In 2025, the United States has quickly become an apocalyptic nightmare: the wealthy live in walled neighborhoods in constant fear of being attacked for their resources, the middle class and working class have become one sea of wandering beggars in search of drinkable water--or gangs of drug addicts. Lauren Olamina lives with her family within one of the only walled neighborhoods left in San Francisco. She also struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her feel other people’s emotions. And in this world it’s mostly pain--especially when her neighborhood is burned down and she has to begin the long and dangerous trek up to the almost utopian-like Canada. Along the way, she spreads her fantastical ideas for a new religion and way of life.

I don’t really remember the writing style of the last Butler book I read, so I was a little bit surprised by the simplistic style, but it worked well here--especially because it serves as a young adult’s PoV from journal entries while the world is literally falling to pieces around her.

So … the age gap: I won’t lie and say I’m not uncomfortable by it, because I am. I could say a lot here about one’s options in an apocalyptic world and all that, but obviously this was a deliberate choice by the author. From what I know about Butler, she tends to push the borders of what’s “right” or “acceptable” in each one of her novels, so this one is no exception. Although I personally don't like it, unless the ages were mentioned I can put aside my discomfort; the age difference is not an integral part of the two characters’ relationship and the way they interact with each other.

But dang, this book is grim. And unfortunately, it's still very relevant (and terrifying). Some of my favorite things about what I’ve experienced with Butler’s books so far though have been her keen observations on the world and her creative takes on those observations. Here, it’s the fall of the US, mainly to a shortage of water. But also, foreign corporations are splitting American land up to build factories that house workers (providing essential protection from the outside) and pay them in money only usable at their company stores.

The plot here is rather straightforward but is made up by the very absorbing world building elements and the fact that the characters are all very real and dynamic. In comparison to the rest of the cast, though, the MC reads a little dull. Dull, but not one-dynamic.

Anyway, I'm very interested in reading where things go from here!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Rape

also: CSA