Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

349 reviews

lisacanteven's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This is my first Octavia Butler book to read, and I wish I had done so sooner. This book is brilliant. I am not sure what I was expecting, maybe Octavia's prose to be a bit less accessible. But I just clicked with it right away, and I think that is very important when writing a book that is such a powerful glimpse into our country and the faults that it has. Sure, we aren't there yet but we could be in the future. Lauren was such an intriguing character. Dare I say that I loved her? I think I did. Her strength and tenacity had me cheering for her the whole time. Does that mean I would be a great cult member? I won't look too deeply into that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Grief, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Slavery, Abandonment, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Trafficking

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Incest, Suicide, and Alcoholism

marinhein2000's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, War, Rape, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual violence, and Child death

ikiteahill's review

dark reflective 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? No

5.0

This book was hard to read. It's billed as scifi/fantasy but it's really more focused on a dystoipian society. Taking place in the USA starting in the year 2024, it's an alternate universe but parts of it hit really close to home with how eerily similar they are to society today. Some of the content was hard to stomach. But it brings up such interesting philosophical concepts. Like, what is God? What is religion? What does that do for people? What is human nature? How do we respond as a species under threat? You have to be in the right mindset to read this one but it's worth reading. I think this one will stick with me for a while, even if I'm not sure I'm ready to read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Hate crime, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Death, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Medical content, Torture, Cannibalism, Child death, Murder, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Abortion, and Incest

amorphousbl0b'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Trafficking, Police brutality, and Slavery

noeyy's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

jackgoss's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Rape, Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism and Slavery

jeanned_arc's review against another edition

dark tense

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Death

gabriella_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.25

This was a great introduction into Octavia Butler for me. The writing style was gripping and the characters were fantastic. The plot was heavy but in a realistic way (especially for a dystopian, it made sense and is even more eerie to read in 2024). I wasn’t a big fan of the “starting a religion” stuff, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Classism, Drug use, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Child death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, War, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

jayjayjers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal death, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Slavery, and Rape

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Child abuse

kylamunoz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Child death