Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

149 reviews

catalyst226's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

Dystopian and in too many ways eerily similar to things going on in the real world. Definitely interesting that the narrator's condition is both a notable portion of her story but not a major plot point considering everything else going on around her. I'll have to take some more time, and perhaps read something a little lighter before diving into the sequel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Slavery, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

vrkinase0411's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

I can now see why people find this work to be prophetic. When we stand still long enough to look around us we can absolutely see what our hypo-empathetic and lack of history will turn us into.

I can't say I'm not offended, however, in Butler's portrayal of poor and homeless people along with conflating middle class "privileges" as something inherently communal.  While, she does draw attention to the widening rich-poor gap, the ACTUAL poor seem to figuratively discarded for a sympathetic view of middle class destruction. Not sure that was her intention, but the demonizing of addicts and actual poor people while engendering sympathy for the loss of the middle class feels on brand for neoliberalism.

Aside from that, it was pointedly written to examine our current conditions and really look at where we are headed.

Olamina makes stark obersevations and creates a coping mechanism that drives her to action while allowing herself to submit to change.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

themagpiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, and Domestic abuse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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