Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

30 reviews

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

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

'Parable of the Talents' by Octavia Butler is an important sequel that builds upon all that was laid out in 'Parable of the Sower.' The story follows Lauren as she finally begins to build the community that she has dreamed of with Earthseed at its center. As her group begins to grow, it catches the eyes of those following the religion set out by the fascist president of the United States. 
Somehow even more so than with Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents is a harrowing story. Lauren's life is an incredibly hard one and this book has every trigger warning possible. Butler dives into what the world would look like as it falls apart and how different people would choose to find their place. Some find it in fascism and having power over others. Other people seek out small communities and look to the stars. 
Lauren is never the most likable character, which is part of what makes her such a fascinating protagonist. She has a very strong goal but this goal often comes before other people, including her direct family. Butler does an exceptional job of creating a character study of one woman seeking to find power and influence in life through what she believes is a calling. The other perspective that runs through this novel (which I won't spoil) is a helpful contrast to Lauren's perspective. After an entire book of Lauren's journals with Parable of the Sower, I think one of the reasons why Parable of the Talents is somehow even better is because of this contrasting point of view. We get to see how other people view Lauren and how some of the choices she makes look to those who are not in her own head. 
This is one of the best duologies that I have ever read. Butler is considered one of the greats in SF for a reason. This book is a must read, especially regarding how scarily close some aspects are to our current reality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Sexism, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Death of parent, and War

risaleel's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War

atalea's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Parable of the Talents is a strong sequel to a great book. However, the series didn't fully work for me because of Lauren and her Earthseed preachings. Lauren can be a very strong and intelligent character who I admire at one point, but then the story drifts back to focus on her Earthseed mission and I am just not that interested in it. What I really like about this book however, is that a lot of the side characters voice my opinions on Lauren's character and her tunnel vision and she in turn makes valid criticisms of others. The characters therefore felt very real to me. I just didn't feel connected to the main character and her mission unfortunately, which weakened my reading experience.

As an apocalyptic book, it is one of the strongest I have ever read. Events and motivations felt real and possible, which made the book even more scary. The main portion of the book felt like a true apocalyptic survival story á la The Walking Dead and I could totally see this as a movie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Rape

Moderate: Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Deportation, Sexism, Death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexual violence, Murder, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

kurumipanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Outing, Murder, Genocide, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Death, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Rape, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content, Police brutality, Child death, Classism, Suicide, and Child abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, War, Islamophobia, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Bullying

cuddlygryphon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Child death, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

While I enjoyed Parable of the Sower more, I still found this dystopian novel to be reflective in many ways of our present day society. This book is difficult to read. It is interesting and important. It is a tale of selfishness and selflessness, love and hate, truth and lies. It is mortifying to imagine life like this, but also just barely outside the scope of what could happen, which makes it some of the best dystopian literature that exists. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Sexism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Murder, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Rape, Hate crime, War, Transphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Outing, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Animal death

kemrick19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Child death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, and Rape

Minor: Grief, Abandonment, Car accident, Drug use, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Abortion

therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

This book took me a lot of time to get through, even more so than the first book of this duo. Octavia E. Butler was really a seer; although this is science fiction, she was writing about the 2020s and there are many parallels to how we are living/being governed today. I think it was very interesting to have the perspective of Lauren's daughter, someone who, as we discover on the second page (which is why i'm not saying it's a spoiler) very much disagrees with her biological mother's Earthseed teachings. Okay now i'm going to talk more in detail so, spoilers:

I want to read any interviews Ms. Butler did on this series, specifically on Lauren's character. I believe she was attracted to Bankole because he filled the void her father left when he disappeared/died, but the acceptance of the age difference made me so uncomfortable. I don't think Lauren/Olamina is meant to be a character who is "liked," but rather a character who is someone you might sit with over a meal to hear her perspective, which is what some people in the book actually do. I think the desire to go to space and have communities take root there also feels very akin to the 1% goals in present-day, and I questioned why she didn't want to use Earthseed as a way to improve the land she was currently on. It seemed like some societal changes were made once Christian America/Jarret semi-collapsed, but she didn't use her new power (which is exactly what she had: power) to enact change outside of the space mission. God is Change, right? I can see why Asha/Larkin had a distrust for her biological mother, and I also feel very sad for them both. Whether or not she realizes, Asha was indoctrinated and all that time had an impact on the way she viewed Olamina. Plus Marc's self-hatred/internalized homophobia and how it existed in opposition to his religion, the same one that enslaved his own sister, absolutely influenced his desire to make a family by keeping his niece away from her mother. No amount of sympathy for his situation will make me understand why, if he knew about Asha, he kept that away from Olamina.

It's a very disturbing, prophetic(?), insightful study of religion, power, community building, and the decay/rebuilding of society. Did I enjoy it? No, but it's a very good book. I don't think it's meant to be enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Blood, Classism, Homophobia, Death, and Kidnapping

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