Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

6 reviews

kemrick19's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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meant2breading's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Philosophical and disturbing. I did appreciate the fast paced nature of  book one, Dawn, but Adulthood Rites had more character and behavior exploration than plot drive. However, the themes Butler explores in this will stick with me and haunt me without doubt: 

What lies at the essence of human nature? Do beings, in this 
case humans, deserve to live freely freely with their beliefs even when they are misguided and prone to violence? 
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gemstonejasper's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Octavia E Butler doesn't write books that should be read all at once. In my experience, they're much better when you take time to digest each section. This is to her credit because she has this unique way of mirroring humanity back to the reader. This book follows Akin, the first human-born male construct (human/alien hybrid). It follows him as he grows up in this role. How do others treat him because of these things he has no control over? How can he find his place in the world while facing this contradiction within him? It also has an interesting commentary on consent vs coercion and is allowing people to live always a mercy, or can it be a cruelty. There are so many themes that are explored and I love it. I would recommend all of her books that I've read, this one included.

I just want to talk about how horrible all parties are to Akin. The resister humans kidnap him and are often very abusive towards him. But it's revealed that the aliens left him with the humans for a prolonged period on purpose. This caused great pain for both him and his sibling. This thing that is so crucial to his development and life as an alien was stolen from him by both parties. I would even argue that the aliens are more to blame because they fully understood what they were doing to him and how it would affect him, whereas the humans couldn't fully understand. They used him as an experimental rat without a care for his well-being. I think all of it was cruel. That's one thing that irks me about the aliens. They are so calculated, clinical and logical. Sure, they can feel emotions. But they lean much farther towards the calculated, logical side than humans normally would. This comes with positives, like being about to do things with their bodies and advance themselves. But it also comes with the negatives of being unable to really relate to the other species they encounter (such as humans). Maybe the third book will introduce the aliens as having their own contradiction.


After I finished, there was a passage I kept coming back to read. Akin is advocating for the humans to have Mars. An older alien (I forget what it was called) basically told him that they would let him do what he believes is right, but that it is a cruelty. Akin protests, but is forced to acknowledge that it likely is a cruelty. Yet he still holds out hope for the possibility that the humans will be able to overcome their contradiction.
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sunbathingturtle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

There is just so much to chew on in this world! I really appreciated the reprise of a couple characters from Dawn.
The story starts a bit slow but quickly hits pace once the narrator grows.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only disappointment I’ll note is that we don’t hear much from Lilith in this book. But Akin is a superb character as well. 
And there is so much to grab onto besides past characters; from Oankali-Human constructs to life  back on Earth, this book hits enough untied plot points from Dawn to stay satisfying.
Not only was this an enjoyable read, but it also pushed me to interrogate and widen my paradigms about humanity and our collective future. Thank you Octavia Butler.
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feralbookwife's review

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adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kirkspockreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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