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cinderrunner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Butler's writing is incredible. It's so simplistic and straight forward, so it's so easy to lose yourself into the novel, but she never looses the deep, powerful world building and commentary. I have genuinely never read anyone else who manages to do what she does. There is a "slice of life" feel to Butler's books and Fledgling is no exception. The concepts explored around racism, hatred, love, power and consent are so artfully done. I get where other reviews are coming from saying it is info dumpy or too slow/boring. I found having Shori loose her memory was an incredible way for us to be on the journey of discovering and judging the world of the Ina with her. I didn't find it info dumpy because of it being handled through that lens. And yes, the story isn't very action packed or over the top in the giant wars and mythic quests way a lot of fantasy/scifi books are. The drama, violence, and tension is much more of a slow burn that really allows you to melt into Shori and her journey. This is the most unique vampire novel I've ever read. It blurs the lines of scifi and fantasy really well. The vampire world of the Ina is so fascinating as is their relationship to humans. They hold themselves so far above humans but, as we see more of how they behave and the crimes they commit, are they? Absolutely love everything Butler accomplished here. I wish it could have been a series, I'd love to know what the future holds for Shori and her eventual children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Blood, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Misogyny
plainpaige's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Ooof. I would have liked this book more if not for the shadow cast over it by the explicit pedophilia of it all. Of course, some will say it's not actually pedophilia, the "child" protagonist was in her 50s! But let's just say, this book will never be made into a movie. Even disregarding the explicit relationships between this person who appears to be ~10 years old, I had trouble finding myself interested in the story or the characters. A third of this book was judicial bureaucratic boredom, and perhaps Butler could have expanded it into a more interesting series, but I personally wouldn't have read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Classism, Mental illness, Death of parent, Ableism, Gun violence, Addiction, Racism, Violence, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Alcohol, and Incest
samireadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
5.0
Rating 5⭐️
Such an amazing and thought provoking story that deals with lost, love, finding out who you are, and ultimately the terrible effect racism leaves on a community and society.
Read this book if you love:
- Vampires
- A mystery that keeps you guessing
- Books that will cause you immense pain, but you’ll fall in love anyway
- Love and lust
This book starts with a women who has no memory of who she is or what happened to her or the houses around her, clearly burnt to the ground. You follow along as she works to understand who she is, and why these bad things keep happening to her. This story is filled with so much loss and pain, but also with love, and the need to be loved by those around you. I was left feeling so whole, but also so angry at the way society views people who are different than them. Octavia E. Butler tells such an important story here from the lenses of vampires, and I think everyone she should this story. I will be left thinking about it for years to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Racial slurs
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
dark
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
4.0
This is my second time reading this (it took me 2 days to finish) and my previous comments/review basically sum up how I feel about this book. I wanted to add that I always love how diverse Butler's characters are. Last time I rated this 3.5 stars but this time I'm bumping it up and rating it 4 stars. It's not my favorite Butler book but it was still good and well written. I really appreciate the commentary on racism and disability.
I still have an issue with the main character having sexual relationships with adults when she looks to be only 10 or 11 years old, but this time around I tried to ignore that it was happening. This would have gotten 5 stars from me if the main character had looked like she was at least in her 20s.
(Sept 14th, 2023)
---
It took me so long to finish this because I was triggered that the main protagonist, who looks 10 years old but is a 53 year old vampire, keeps having sex with various human adults. I finished this for book club and because I loved Octavia E. Butler but I couldn't get into it because of all the sexual content involving someone who looks 10 yrs old. This is my least liked and lowest rated Octavia E. Butler book.
I like the lore on vampires and the vampiric world building, and I liked the commentary on racism and disability. I just had a hard time with the triggering content. I don't understand why Shori wasn't just made to look like an adult.
3.5 out of 5 Stars rounded up because of the cool concepts and commentary on racism and disability.
I still have an issue with the main character having sexual relationships with adults when she looks to be only 10 or 11 years old, but this time around I tried to ignore that it was happening. This would have gotten 5 stars from me if the main character had looked like she was at least in her 20s.
(Sept 14th, 2023)
---
It took me so long to finish this because I was triggered that the main protagonist, who looks 10 years old but is a 53 year old vampire, keeps having sex with various human adults. I finished this for book club and because I loved Octavia E. Butler but I couldn't get into it because of all the sexual content involving someone who looks 10 yrs old. This is my least liked and lowest rated Octavia E. Butler book.
I like the lore on vampires and the vampiric world building, and I liked the commentary on racism and disability. I just had a hard time with the triggering content. I don't understand why Shori wasn't just made to look like an adult.
3.5 out of 5 Stars rounded up because of the cool concepts and commentary on racism and disability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
nikkiacat's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
excellent_taste's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.75
Really interesting, also disturbing. I do not know how I feel about it but it was well written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Murder, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexism, and Pedophilia
revenant_tomato's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, and Murder
uhm_kai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i want to consume this book & i need 500 more but i can't have them and it sucks
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, and Racism
velokei's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I had to read this for my degree and I WISH I didn’t. This involves a fifty two year old ‘child’ who has the body of a ten year old having sexual encounters with adults. It was incredibly uncomfortable to read.
In addition to that it read like a fanfiction, glossing over scenes and just being oddly vague. There was a lack of characterisation and all the characters sounded the same when they spoke, even five hundred year old vampires sounded similar to Wright who is supposed to be twenty three.
All in all incredibly uncomfortable read though I’ll admit I really liked the fact that Shori was black, black vampires and by extension any vampire that isn’t white is an interesting and well appreciated deviation from the usual white vampire stereotype.
In addition to that it read like a fanfiction, glossing over scenes and just being oddly vague. There was a lack of characterisation and all the characters sounded the same when they spoke, even five hundred year old vampires sounded similar to Wright who is supposed to be twenty three.
All in all incredibly uncomfortable read though I’ll admit I really liked the fact that Shori was black, black vampires and by extension any vampire that isn’t white is an interesting and well appreciated deviation from the usual white vampire stereotype.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism
leighae's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
A collision of fantasy, sci-fi, realism, and romance while speeding past looming social issues, including the nauseating sexualization of an apparent child. Generally be prepared for this bizarre kaleidoscope as it makes for a bumpy read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Blood, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship