A review by plainpaige
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A stunning work, gripping, remarkably prescient for its time. Butler may have had the timeline off by a few years, and been too optimistic about the pace of climate change, but she clearly saw the coming downturn of society that we're living through. We would all do well to read this enthralling book and follow its characters' example of preparing for, finding, building, and protecting community when societal safeguards fail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Addiction, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Racism, Incest, Infidelity, Death of parent, Excrement, Police brutality, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Sexism