Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

90 reviews

joharrismay's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-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

One of my all time favs. I haven’t read it in a while just it’s so good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alexijai98's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

clovelatte's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative 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

it’s been weeks and I’m still thinking about this book. Reading this in 2023, the year before the events of the book, is more than a little spooky. We’re not quite there but gosh does it feel possible. I think there’s so much here about the human spirit in crisis and ways our systems of oppression enact violence on all of us. I’ve already requested the second book and I’m gutted that Octavia never got to finish the third. Definitely would recommend if dystopian fiction is your thing and as someone with religious traumas I found it particularly interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kaitisbooknook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

inky_cap's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

kimmyv's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Well i kind of hated this. Well written, but i hated it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

clare072's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Incest, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Abortion

stephanie_b's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jabakken's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• 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

4.5

Without a doubt one of the most chilling and true-to-life dystopias I've ever encountered. Octavia E. Butler understood American culture in ways that very few writers have I think, and so many of her predictions of the future still feel scarily possible. 

However, I think that reading this book only one year out from when the beginning of it is set means that I also saw all of the ways in which this is NOT entirely the current trajectory of this country, or at least not one we're going to reach as quickly as Butler thought (thank goodness for small mercies or something I suppose?). 

I love the journal entry format. I loved Lauren as a narrator. She's so intelligent and observant and sensitive and yet still so young, and that combination of factors means that she is very frank about the state of the world in a way that does a great service to us as readers.

This book broke my heart and made me angry. It made me get attached to characters without even realizing it and then ripped them away from me--and what a familiar feeling that is.

The cast does get quite bloated toward the end, and I almost feel like the book might have benefitted from a couple more chapters.

I think this is the first dystopian book I've read that mentioned tampons. And the gun presence was oh so very American.

The way this book handles race and gender is so sensitive and so REAL. God Octavia E. Butler was amazing.

I will definitely be reading the sequel soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Classism

Additional warning for a relationship with a really big age gap (older adult and eighteen-year-old), plus I'm sure I'm missing other potentially triggering content. Basically, read this book with care. It is VERY heavy.