Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

16 reviews

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

eamador's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Classism, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

stephanieridiculous's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I have so many thoughts on this. 

While I did not care for the new format of this book, I think it's better than Parable of the Sower. Or maybe more accurately, it's more relevant to America in 2022, and for my particular context, is more relevant to what American Christianity is becoming (has been for a long time.)

Some bullet point lists:

Things I didn't care for:
-As mentioned, I didn't really enjoy the new format. Having commentary on the journal entries didn't really work for me, even if I was very interested in the information they provided. I'm a stickler for consistent POV's, so in particular I didn't care for adding new ones in the 2nd book.
-I feel like the editing was a little less tight on this one. There were a couple of small inconsistencies that I feel like should have been caught (mostly having to do with how Sharing worked)
-I'm not sure if the characters just didn't pull me, or if the amount of violence in general made it hard to feel any particular loss, but lots of bad things happen to important characters and I didn't really feel the weight of it. I cry while reading books all. the. time. and I didn't shed a single tear, despite from significant blows. I am unsure if that's a reflection of me or the writing. 

Things I did care for/or got to me:
-There is still the pure shock factor that I didn't much care for in book one, but it's used much more effectively here. While I felt Parable was making a point, it felt like a vague general one, where Talents is making a very specific, and very relevant, point about America, the government, zealous religion, and particularly violent Christianity. Butler gut punches you with the reality of violence in a way that really drives home how close we are to it in the real world.
-The world felt more balanced here than it did in Parable; more tangible and believable. 
-As a Christian in America in 2022; the Crusader's are a harrowing potential - that I 100% believe could actually happen/is already happening to some extent. Butler's writing of a Christian fanatic running for president is horrifying in it's accuracy & I am much more haunted now by the phrase "Make America great again." In particular, I think the way the Crusaders are depicted is so accurate it hurts. The hypocrisy, the blind faith, the stupidity - just open Twitter and you'll see the same thing in real time. It's so so so sad to see it lived out in real life, and it's disheartening. Maddening.
-I really did like the ending. It felt resolved, but not clean. It's messy and disappointing, but also hopeful. I was a little worried about how the book could resolve satisfyingly given the scope of Earthseed, but I think it addressed things well. 

I think the resurgence of these books is 100% spot on, and with some caveats for caring for your mental health, I'd definitely encourage my (white) Christian friends to try and read these two books, but especially Talents. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

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

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Child death, Gore, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Trafficking

Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, Outing, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

So, I know I’ve said it before and I know I am far from the first person to say it, but Octavia Butler’s knack for seeing where we’re headed based on the events of her time is truly uncanny. 

“I have also read that the Pox was caused by accidentally coinciding climactic, economic, and social crises. It would be more honest to say that the Pox was caused by our own refusal to deal with obvious problems in these areas. We caused the problems: then we sat and watched as they grew into crises.”

Butler’s dystopia feels particularly American. It’s not so much the government seeking more and more power and control that occurs in a lot of dystopian fiction. Rather, Butler’s dystopian America really begins with the people. She explores how inflammatory rhetoric can combine with an increasingly desperate lower class to seed chaos as the downtrodden attempt to eke out a place in a new power structure by any means necessary. 

What feels particularly real about this world she’s created is that these things totally could happen. In fact, they have in the past: slavery, re-education camps, residential schools/forced assimilation, religious persecution, and subjugation of those who don’t conform. This book feels like a novelized version of the Stanford Prison Experiment: an investigation of how even a small amount of power over another person’s autonomy can be incredibly corrupting and lead to extreme abuse. It also explores the cognitive dissonance that allows people to justify their behavior: “People blame you for the things they do to you.”

Word to the wise: this book is BRUTAL. It’s excellent, but it’s so much darker than Parable of the Sower. Content warnings are below, but I may have missed some, so make sure you’re in a healthy place if you pick this one up. 

CW: rape, murder, suicide, physical abuse, kidnapping, slavery, home invasion, child abuse, child sexual abuse, incarceration, homophobia

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion