Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

197 reviews

htoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It’s really a 3.75 but I’m rounding it up to four because it’s Octavia E. Butler and I’ve enjoyed her other works. The story takes a while to get into, things didn’t start getting interesting until halfway through the book. I kind of procrastinated in finishing this book because of the writing/narrative style. The prose was okay but not profound in any way. I find the Earthseed poetry cringy. To be honest, majoring in English has lowkey ruined reading certain books for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Rape, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia

happy_birthday's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

a very worthwhile post-apocalypse! a lot more shooting poor people in the face than I expected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child death, and Trafficking

it'd be a little easier to list the content warnings this book doesn't have

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Violence, Child death, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Rape, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Trafficking, Addiction, Police brutality, Incest, Animal death, and Racism

heemeeraa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child death, Classism, Gaslighting, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Trafficking, War, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Slavery, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Sexism

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

ikiteahill's review against another edition

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

badbadwolf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Rape, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Racism, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Child death, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Gore, Drug abuse, and Animal 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

yesthattom's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Murder, Medical trauma, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Racism, and Mass/school shootings