At the start of a new world, destruction; uncovered and found by the daughter?
What. A. Ride. This book was to read.
First, let me explain of the differences I've noticed between the thickness of this one and its first, Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Talents (later I found out that these two books were supposed to be one) held so much information about the world and religion, characters, and emotions that it has taken me a couple of days to fully process the book in order to write this review effectively.
The Main Characters POVs
Just like the first one, this story is told through diary entries. However, we've had 2 new people introduced through these diary POVs and it was tragically beautiful. We still get a chance to see how Bankole, Lauren's husband and Acorn's doctor, reacts to what is going on, thankfully. While Lauren is still, essentially, the main character as the path of Earthseed is being told through her, the one who put the diaries together was her daughter.
Lauren's daughter, Larkin but sadly renamed to Asha, was the one to put her mother's diaries together to flesh out what became of Earthseed since we last saw them as well as what they endured during their dark times. On another side of the same coin, we see an entry from Marcus, Lauren's brother, who was deemed to be dead after Lauren had to flee her home in Book 1.
Earthseed
The issues I've read about in this book that centered around Earthseed and a christian America were frightening, heartbreaking, and anger-driven. I ate through this story as I could see in the back of my mind that these labor camps for those who don't follow the christian faith believable - especially in today's world and today's USA - all stemming from the beliefs of one person who was elected president in the book's 2030s.
Still, Earthseed's ideals were never changing as the verses are testamental to the "go with the flow" attitude. "God is change" is so real in this book - it is shown after every single downfall, mishap, and even in victories.
The ideals of Earthseed, from its creation to the end when we see that followers of Earthseed are becoming astronauts "to take root among the stars" is so satisfying and inspirational. I couldn't find a better ending for Earthseed and Lauren.
Ending
Overall, the story was driven - I could not resist picking it up if I had a minute to spare to read. While hard to flop between past diary entries, it was clear who it was after a couple of sentences (even if you didn't read the names). It was beautifully written and grasped your emotions and attention at every turn.
If I could wipe my memory of what happened, I would and I'd read it again.
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