Parable of the Sower

It took me too long to read this book, but the dragging of my feet led to me starting this novel, one year from its fictional start date.

Octavia's near term California dystopia is a world we are familiar with. We can see how she build these scenes by extrapolating the societal issues of the 90s to today. Though our immediate 2023 world is not as bleak as the one she narrates, I found eerie truths that are highlighted today - severe weather patterns, inequality of wealth, societal drug reliance, and a dose of anarchy are continued forces of concern.

And we see these all from the eyes of a determined, mature, natural leader in Lauren. She guides us through countless heart breaks and losses, but your confidence in her ability to survive doesn't waiver. It's the same with the people she picks up along the way, then slowly believing in this preacher's daughter. Their strength grows around the new faith she built and her innate ability to create hope when you just can't believe there should be any left.