Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

11 reviews

badbadwolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Slavery, Abandonment, Classism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Confinement, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Homophobia, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Body horror, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Vomit, War, Deadnaming, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Xenophobia

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

TW: Sexual assault, slavery, theocracy 

edit// August 6th, 2023

Wow, this book was just as hard to get through as it was when I first read it in 2022. I really can't stand

Marc or Larken, I hate them both

. This was such a good book though, I think it was a bit long but it was still really good. I'm going to NOT adjust my rating this time around, I'm going to keep my rating at 4 stars. 

4 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This book was hard to get through but it was fantastic, I had so many emotions all through out reading this! Fear, anxiety, sadness, and hopefulness all coursed through me while I devoured this dystopian sci fi by Octavia E. Butler. I think the hardest parts for me were the sexual assault and the slavery. I gave this 4 stars because I'm torn on whether there needed to be so much sexual assault with such vivid imagery in the novel. As a sexual assault survivor I definitely got triggered more than once while reading this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Incest, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

plainpaige's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

I think I liked this book more than its predecessor, despite the often disturbing, challenging storyline. Butler again made predictions that seem to be coming true to some degree. I enjoyed this book's foray into the politics of a crumbling society, though I suspect it may be difficult for some people who endorse Christianity to swallow. I love a good cautionary tale, though, and if you can struggle through the hard concepts, you will be rewarded with a beautiful story of the human experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Medical content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Confinement, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, Gun violence, Pregnancy, War, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Addiction, Excrement, Infidelity, Infertility, Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Colonisation

kshertz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow. Octavia Butler really was a genius. She saw the world for what it was and where it was going. I thought parable of the sower was fantastic, I think this sequel I actually like more. What happens when you elect a President that takes you backwards and your religion is blacklisted? What is your future when change is all you have? It has some twists and turns and I can’t believe what happens. Still. Even now. It’s incredible to hear from her daughters viewpoint too. I think you just have to read it and experience it for yourself when you have the mental space for it for sure. Just an amazing piece of literature. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Biphobia, Homophobia, Rape, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Murder

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious relaxing sad 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

3.0

Octavia E. Butler was the renowned author of the novel numerous groundbreaking novels like "Kindred", "Wild Seed" or "Parable of the Sower". She has won many awards for her works and is a pioneer in her genre exploring black injustice, women's rights, global warming and political disparity.

In 2032, Lauren Olamina endured the destruction of her home and family and realised her vision of a friendly community in northern California based on her recently founded a religion, Earthseed. The fledgling community supplies shelter for outcasts facing persecution after the election of an ultra-conservative president who vows to "make America great again." In an increasingly separated and dangerous nation, Lauren's subversive territory minority religious coalition led by a young black woman--becomes a mark for President Jarret's rule of terror and oppression.

Years after, Asha Vere reads the diaries of a mother she never knew, Lauren Olamina. She struggles to negotiate with her mother's estate as she searches for solutions to her past. She is caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to guide humanity into a better future.

This book is written as a diary and employs the identical style as the first in this duology, getting the same issues with it. The protagonist has the propensity to distance herself from what transpired to her through her diary documenting as a way of self-therapy. However, it does not necessarily ensure an engaging read because of how healing this factual representation of events can be. The lived experiences make for a fascinating story, but the tone is not there to empathise with the individual you are meant to be sympathising with.

There is a silver lining, yet Where the first piece of the series was a monologue by Lauren Olamina, new narrators are brought into this volume. Lauren's spouse gets a pair of pages, and so does one of her brothers, but these contributions are so small they are entirely meaningless in hindsight. The star narrator of this novel is Olamina's daughter. She delivers a new and fresh mindset, which is not an unexpected feeling she grew up without and far away from her mother. This voice offers the reader a break from Lauren's self-indulgent narrative and, for those like me who had hardships relating to the self-declared Messiah, a representative of reason one could connect to.  

I do not doubt that this book, like the first one, is an absolute classic and a dystopian masterpiece; however, I had The same problems with this book as the first one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Torture

alomie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

I enjoyed this book overall as part of a duology, an almost apocalyptic world bought on by climate change, flowing into a world that is recovering and building on the first book, but this book was a major change in pace, and a change to multiple POV's. 

I found the start of the book slow, and the middle glacial and uncomfortable the end was good, this is where it really picked up for me but I think this was only because at least something vaguely positive was happening. 

It was bleak, and it was slow, and for me it was quite hard to wade through the book. It was pretty harsh to read and I was finding it hard to pick up. 

I am glad the characters got a happier ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Classism, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Death of parent, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexism

ellenwilberg's review against another edition

dark sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Suicide, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Trafficking, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Incest

machen27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

There are so many ideas in this book and it's prequel, Parable of the Sower. Both are difficult reads because they  unflinchingly depcit the terrible things humans can do to each other, yet they also ask about how we make the world better than it was in spite of all of this. This book also deals more with parenthood, though to say more would be to spoil it. More than anything though, the book feels important, especially now in 2022.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual assault, War, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide

Sometimes one must talk about terrible things. The harrowing world Butler creates is worth engaging with, is meant to evoke discomfort. Do not avoid it because it may make you uncomfortable.

chilicrispy's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, War, Xenophobia, Vomit, Slavery, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Kidnapping