Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

84 reviews

sarahofstories's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

nojerama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

Terrifyingly plausible, absolutely gripping, should be required reading everywhere. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Vomit, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Hate crime, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Stalking, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Incest, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, War, Suicide, and Trafficking

keato's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? Yes

4.0

This book is so unlike other books I’ve read. It started off pretty slow and I didn’t really get into it until like 1/3 of the way through, but wow it’s so thought provoking and beautiful and I ended up loving it. It’s wild to make the general mood of such a violent and terrifying book reflective. And it’s wild to have such a reflective book without focusing much on emotions. Like,

Lauren does not process her grief about literally everyone she knows dying. And it doesn’t seem to change the way she acts. She doesn’t get irrational or angry or anything, she just focuses on what she needs to do and adopts strays along the journey

. Ugh I’m so excited to talk about this book at book club.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Death, Murder, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Incest, Torture, Trafficking, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Drug abuse

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

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

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

abisam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

love love love. an excellent story, wonderful writing, wonderful characters. DID make me very very down at times but overall a wonderful story 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Slavery, Cursing, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Rape, and Torture

gmortg3's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Stalking, Incest, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, War, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Slavery, Colonisation, Hate crime, Suicide, Trafficking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy