Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

59 reviews

reads2cope's review against another edition

5.0

It was still so jarring to read about the “2020s,” especially in reference to the plague and forest fires. Even more prescient political commentary, giving the increased book banning and attacks on libraries these days: “It seems inevitable that people who can’t read are going to lean more toward judging candidates on the way they look and sound than on what they claim they stand for. Even people who can read and are educated are apt to pay more attention to good looks and seductive lies than they should. And no doubt the new picture ballots on the nets will give Jarret an even greater advantage.”

I still hated the Earthseed "religion," despite loving the mutual aid work at its core. Especially in the epilogue, seeing that multiple spaceships actually took off felt ridiculous. Earthseed could have had a stronger environmental and community message - all the farming and land care they did at Acorn and all the environmental destruction that tipped the dystopia into what it was seems washed away with the sudden emissions of these new space homes that were only previously mentioned in lieu of a Heaven and never actually seen in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Torture, Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Police brutality

woweewhoa's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Violence, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Suicide and Religious bigotry

Minor: War

madihoney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Slavery, War, Classism, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Sexism, and Torture

saintswitchblade's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Classism, Religious bigotry, War, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Slavery

redheadorganist's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Confinement, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Classism

mamaquiereleer's review against another edition

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: Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Kidnapping, Child death, and Gun violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Suicide

chubble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Torture, and Sexual violence

Minor: War, Vomit, Violence, Trafficking, and Sexual violence

jwells's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful

The first half of this book seemed really slow, compared to the tension of the first book. There are also a LOT of Earthseed verses, which I can't claim are all that meaningful to me. I'm not really getting into the God is Change stuff. 

It's an interesting question to what extent Butler wanted her invented religion to actually inspire us readers. Did she make it up just to tell a great story? Or did she hope we'd come away from these books with new levels of commitment to achieving space colonies, because that's the spiritual destiny of the human species?

The community building aspects of Earthseed are lovely, but I can't really buy into the idea that we need space colonies as a communal goal. I mean, it would be cool if we could, someday, but I could think of lots of other good communal goals we could work on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Rape, Gun violence, and Confinement

corriejn's review against another edition

dark sad

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Enjoyed this one a bit less than the first book (Parable of the Sower).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Medical content and Pregnancy

Minor: War

hayleemarie's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Death, Genocide, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture