A review by madi22w
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.0

it’s been a little while since i finished POTT, and although i wouldnt say that it was necessary, it was certainly important. asha’s POV (also—asha is so much more fitting than larkin LMAO.. that and “acorn” really have me doubting lauren’s ability to name things) gave me a more complex view of lauren and earthseed as a whole, one that we didn’t get in POTS. at times i was definitely frustrated because of asha’s biases, but her flaws felt genuine and spread throughout the entirety of her character. 

i felt that earthseed itself didn’t have as much of an important role, which was a little disappointing. POTS and even POTT are books that help me imagine where america is headed &/or where we could go, what we could look like if we were liberated. so i was a little disheartened that so much of the book was about the consequences of lauren’s lack of forethought without any further discussion of that other than one time when asha was like “your god is change! how did you not see this coming??” because like REAL!! acorn’s whole shtick was that they required discussion and questioning, but it felt like while they were invited to do this of earthseed they could NOT do this of lauren’s leadership… i just kept wondering, what is the point of all of their suffering? did this have to happen? is there a point? could they have relied on earthseed more? 

some of the characters were better than others too, like lauren and asha and what was that girls name at the end? brie? clark? lily? the one who.. allie? sent her bc she knew she was struggling, they all felt real to me. but

marc

+ bankole felt less real, and

the whole CA + Jarrett stuff

—although eerily and terrifyingly accurate to real life—also felt… fake? in some way. i don’t know, that was more of a vibe. 

my only other issue w the book was how much octavia butler re-explained shit from the first book. this was my biggest pet peeve when reading scifi in middle school and you can bet it holds up today… LMAO 

overall, though, it was a good sequel!! sequels often disappointing me and even if this one didnt completely awe and inspire me, it didn’t do that lol!! and i walked away w more questions & thought pieces. i intent to come back to this series over and over again. :)