I was very glad I had read The Parable of The Sower and The Parable of the Talents first, because I felt like they added really fascinating context that helped me fully appreciate the world-building, especially around interpersonal dynamics (even though they have a fairly different plotline and are not set in the same universe).

Like most (maybe all?) of Octavia Butler's work, it definitely gets heavy at time, but it's also so beautiful.