Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler

17 reviews

hannahgarstang's review against another edition

Learning about Earthseed through the characters dialogue was quite comforting, despite the dystopian world this is set in. The dialouge felt like transcriptions of real conversations. 

The graphic art was chef's kiss and the story had a good pace. 

Lauren is the most observant, insightful and wise protagonists I've ever read. She is so practical and knows how to read a room. 
The age gap relationship was uncomfortable though when you remember she's only 18 years old at that point. 

This dystopian forewarning felt relevant and reflective of issues we face today. Climate change,  unregulated exploitative industry, systemic racism drivrn by the state and the patriarchy are real risks for people's wellbeing currently. I couldn't help but reflect on the examples of modern day slavery. The reflection of police brutality or the harrowing statistics of child abuse, drug abuse and sexual assault. And then on top of all of that, the fact that climate change disproportionately negatively impacts those of lower socioeconomic communities, often BIPOC communities. The emphasis on struggling to access fresh potable water sources felt especially relevant as climate change has a general rule of the dry get drier and the wet get wetter. Meaning drought prone areas are genearlly going to be especially vulnerable as the climate continues to warm. I've heard predictions that instead of fighting wars over oil we will start fighting wars over water one day. The colour selection of red and orange felt very appropriate given this context. 

The message was pretty clear to me. Work together with your communities to prepare for change because change is inevitable. Prepare for climate change with both mitigation and adaptation. Prepare for natural disasters like earthquakes(my community lives on a fault line), floods (the tragedy that was the flooding up north in Hawkes Bay last year), unprecedented forest fires (I won't be forgetting the horror that was the 2020 forest fires in Australia), and more. And address the very clear inequalities that currently exist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Drug abuse, Racism, Incest, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Grief

wrentfree's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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? No

3.5

I feel like this is what the world is going to look like in a few years. Read only if you want to get depressed as heck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Gun violence, and Animal death

therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

dark 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: Death, Body horror, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: War, Cannibalism, Violence, Death of parent, Cursing, Rape, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use

trippalli's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

2.5

Very dark and violent, a graphic novel adaptation of a Octavia Butler classic. It's heavy in philosophy of God and belief systems and religion in an internally violent submission post apocalyptic living hell on earth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Dysphoria, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, War, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

radhikag's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

I’m just in shock like … how was she this intelligent? it’s a disservice to call her psychic but I think she was just paying a lot more attention n was a lot more insightful than many. I love everything I’ve read by Octavia Butler she’s amazing and it is gorgeous reading this in graphic novel form! So happy I read this 🥰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Death

Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Addiction, Drug abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

robinks's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

I haven’t read Parable of the Sower, but I enjoyed this graphic novel adaptation. While keeping track of the characters was difficult at first, they were given page presence in a way that got easier to discern as I read more. Also, the accuracy of this “dystopian” story to reality is eerie. Personally, I’m always turned off by particularly religious narratives or talk about God, but from a philosophical perspective, the ideas Lauren presents are very compelling. Visually, I’m not a fan of how Lauren’s verses were presented among the illustrations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Classism, and Drug abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Rape, Incest, Police brutality, and Trafficking

lasunflower's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

I haven't (yet) read the original book, so can't comment on the adaption, but I really enjoyed this. The story is brilliant and the artwork is amazing. My only criticism is that it was hard for me to remember who was who  for many of the side characters in the village. 

Lauren is a really brilliant strong female character. For me, although the world Butler painted is very bleak, this story also shows the best in humanity, community, acceptance and trust.

I am very much looking forward to the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Drug use, Rape, and Drug abuse

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Blood, and Classism

ashleybeereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Trafficking, Child death, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy and Suicide

Vomit: illustrated on pages 77, 78, 105 and 139

bookiecharm's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Grief, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Child death

mari77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture