A review by user37483
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

The best way to describe this book is extremely blunt. The author makes it very clear that the main character is desensitized to the world around them and the violence and suffering that is being endured. If you normally read books with a lot of fluff it may take you a while to get into this and you may be a bit shocked by the laissez-faire attitude the FMC has while describing what they are seeing. But stick with it, the journal entry style writing along with how dark and haunting this book is made me not want to put it down. Plus in the current times we’re in, it’s important to read books like this even if they are labeled as “science-fiction” the creepiest thing about this book was how real the world felt. 

I also thought the FMC’s views on God were really interesting but also confusing.
If God is change and change is God, then what is the point in believing in something? Is God “greater than us” or is God us? Is God a being or an idea? Does the FMC think there is a better life on another planet or is the Destiny referring to heaven? I did think it was interesting that the adults in the book were so keen to return to the past and were so hopeful that eventually things would be the same. Meanwhile the FMC knows that we can never return to how things once were. It made me think of real life examples like COVID. We can never be the world we were before COVID, we have to adapt and change. And maybe that’s what God is.


Overall great book and I’m interested to see how the story continues. 
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