Parable of the Sower is a story about Lauren rising to the occasion and creating her own religion after her father went missing which everyone assumed he was dead. After conducting the funeral, later her stepmother and brothers she believed were dead after the gang violence, arson fires, and earthquakes. She went north with friends and later met other bystanders on the highways to branch off and start their own sectioned community.

3 stars.

Parable of Talents shares the journals of Taylor Franklin Bankole and his wife Lauren Oya "Olamina" Bankole which their daughter is reading her historical memories and lifestyles of her parents. She is able to see how the economy has changed--Apocalypse-like, inhabitants of this sectioned community has accumulated from a few to nearly 100, and soon Lauren was united with her thought-to-be-dead brother Marcus in the slave-trade, who has no idea who he is. Parable of the Talents also refers to the scripture Matthew 25, the parable of talents Jesus taught.

This story grabbed my interest to continue reading the pages to see how everything is put together as far as the movement Lauren created as a destiny of survival but later got caught into a slavery-collared community. Slavery again in 2027 and Lauren and community members were caught in 2033 while Larkin was a baby...but one to survive has to learn their captors motives, ways, and habits and use this to find a way of escape!

4 stars

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