Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Fledgling

At the surface, this is a vampire novel, but there is a lot more to it than that. The main character is in the body of a 10 -11 year old girl, and by the vampire standards, she is a child. The vampires and the relationship they have with their humans are a symbiotic one, and a big part of that is sexual in nature. The relationship the MC has with her humans is hard to take and definitely could be triggering. I did question why the author would go this route, but as I got deeper into the story, it made more sense to me. It didn't make it any less disturbing, but I saw beneath the surface. This book is really about power (at least that is how I interpret it) and the power those who others would try to make powerless have. Colored people, women, and children have and often still are treated less than human. That doesn't make them powerless. I loved the genetic engineering component of this book and how the MC being female and black made her powerful. The fact that she was a child by the vampire's standard and had amnesia didn't take away from that power.

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villainofcircumstance's review against another edition

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4.75

I really enjoyed this book. This would have been 5 stars if not for the sexual experiences of the main character - who is not human or a child, but who we are often told looks like a ten year old girl. If it were just detailing her sexuality or among her own fantasy kind it wouldn’t have been so bad, but adult human characters routinely have sex with her or express sexual interest - including before she or he knew she wasn’t a human girl.

I tried to read this book as a teen when it first came out and felt so sickened by this I couldn’t get far - but I am SO GLAD I gave it another chance as an adult. I loved this book and am only sorry there can’t be more as the author sadly passed after its publication. You may love this too - but be warned about the content above.

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lillieslibraryy's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

Fledgling is one of the most unique vampire books I have read and is truly something special. While it wasn't my favourite, it was still a satisfying read. Shori is such an interesting character and I'm so sad that we never get to see her once she had grown up and truly came into herself.

This story focuses on Shori who has lost her memory and her family, and is trying to find out what happened. It ended up being a lot more of a drama than I really expected and focused more on the internal politics/ dynamic between the different vampire families.

Honestly, this was a very difficult read, the relationship and racism were really tough to get through and quite confronting. It wasn't my favourite, but I'm glad I read it and still enjoyed (if that's the right word) my team reading this. The audiobook narration was fantastic.

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rachke's review against another edition

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leadabird's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.5

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nordstina's review against another edition

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2.0

After reading both of the Parable books, I want to go back and read Octavia E. Butler's other work, and I started with Fledgling as was intrigued by the vampire concept and it wasn't part of a larger universe as some of her other works are. We encounter what appears to be a girl who awakens in the woods, not knowing who she is, and is famished, weak, and injured. It turns out she is an Ina (vampire) who is in her fifties and her entire family was killed. She is special as she is able to walk during the day, while other Ina must sleep. Through the course of the book she tries to recreate what happened to her kin, meets other Ina, and tries to solve who is to blame.

There is an obvious parallel to racism and the purity of the race which is a bit heavy-handed here. I felt that because she has lost her memory, it was a super convenient plot device to tell the reader all about the history of the Ina, their powers, their weaknesses, etc. as Shori is also learning about this at the same time. Additionally, something that just squeaked me out that I could NOT get passed- while Shori is fifty something years old, she looks like a pre-teen, and the man she first meets she begins a sexual relationship with. Even if he KNEW she was that old, she looks like a girl, and he did not know her age when then relationship started. It was such a turnoff for me early on in the book, I had almost abandon. So between the quasi-pedophila and convenient way to tell history via amnesia, this was a fail for me.

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franklola's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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corriejn's review against another edition

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2.75

The plot/world-building just isn't creative or novel enough to get over all the explicit and accepted pedophilia. I'm used to expecting some potentially challenging content in Butler's novels, but yikes.

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