I read the Parable of the Sower last year and it was so intense, I needed time before I could tackle Parable of the Talents. I'm glad I waited, because this was equally intense but so, so good. Talents is about power and how it can be used. It's about what humans reach for in times of need and the results of what we reach for, which are sometimes damaging and sometimes healing. And it's about family: what it is and how we make them.

While mostly told through Lauren Oya Olamina, who now goes by Olamina, there are three other narrative voices that bring complexity to Olamina and the book as a whole. It makes you question which narrator to trust. Can any of us truly be objective about our role in the world? And what's the outcome of our subjective view? How might that affect others?

Like Sower, Talents demands thought and many rereadings.