Reviews tagging 'Racism'

La Parabole du semeur by Octavia E. Butler

280 reviews

dkranenburg99's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

 “My God doesn’t love me or hate me or watch over me or know me at all, and I feel no love for or loyalty to my God. My God just is.”

This novel is a dark dystopian classic, with a flawed yet lovable cast of characters on a seemingly hopeless journey, but there is a seed of hope and it is yours to shape. This will be one of those reads I'll need to sit with for a while. While I read it all in one day, I know I will eventually return and re-read this marvelous and deeply personal tale of human resilience and the need for change. God is Change after all ;) It feels very timely to read this on the verge of yet another American election and as the world seems to spiral out of control continuously, maybe I do need to shape the change, perhaps we all do. Even if it isn't perfect, these Earthseed ideas seem genuinely helpful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, and Murder

perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

amandaisok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism and Cannibalism

murve's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual content

dreamer626's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, and War

melitrophium's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Scarily contemporary for a book that was published in 1993 (especially because the setting starts in 2024). 

"I was looking for God,” I said. “I wasn’t looking for mythology or mysticism or magic. I didn’t know whether there was a god to find, but I wanted to know. God would have to be a power that could not be defied by anyone or anything.”

  “Change.”
  “Change, yes,”

Interestingly enough, my beliefs share a lot with the religion the main character is founding. Although I'm not a fan of religion, and if I'm turning to a metaphysical word I'd sooner call it magic than god. She seems to sort of agree with this:

“Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures. Worship is no good without action. With action, it’s only useful if it steadies you, focuses your efforts, eases your mind.”

Overall I loved the worldbuilding. The pace was a bit too slow for my liking. The characters could sometimes feel flat, but that's to be expected since they aren't very free to act and feel (being constantly in dire situations and all). I have high hopes for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest, Racism, and Police brutality

thatsgreatalex's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Child death and Murder

Minor: Rape

maurob0ros's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Rape

Incredible read. Very intense, very sad, and all too real given that it takes place in what’s the present or near future being that I read this in mid 2024. Highly recommend. It’s my first Octavia Butler book and I now want to read all her works. I was recommended this because Margaret Atwood is my favorite author and absolutely, if you enjoy Atwood you’ll enjoy Octavia so much.

bree_reads_too_much's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Fitting that I read this book in 2024 the year this book begins in. I finished it while listening to the sirens outside that never seem to cease, as I live in a city and a state with a large drug and houseless problem. 

This book written and published, I believe in the early 90’s about a dystopian near future (2024-2027) and is about faith, question faith, community, perseverance and survival. I found it powerful, dark, painful and terrifying at times because with the state of the world we currently live in, this reality feels far too inevitable. Even as I was gutted by the terrible things these people saw and lived through, I couldn’t put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

abi_lowe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and Colonisation