Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

36 reviews

perseusj4ckson's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.25

addictive,, 
however i’m noticing a trend of extremely young fmc and a much older love interest that consistently talks about how she’s too young for him and then has sex with her anyway in butler’s books…  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

ominousspectre's review against another edition

3.0

I seem to have found myself in a rut with my book choices lately lol

So, I REALLY liked her world building. I knew I would, it's Octavia Butler for gods' sakes, but she really brought some novel lore to the vampire genre. I've put some more of her sci fi on my tbr as I think I'll enjoy it better. This one was odd because if I hadn't looked to see that this was her last published novel, I would've assumed it was her first.

She was exploring a lot of issues of agency/possession, racism, and relationships, but it felt like we never really dug into them fully. Racism went the deepest, but even then it felt like nothing was gained from it being there, it's just there.

The character of Wright was REALLY hard for me to read through. He is such an unlikeable, whiny little piss baby. And he brings me to my biggest struggle with the book, and why it's not a higher rating from me.

Shori's age situation. Not an uncommon critique. I understand that she's a vampire and they age slower, but she's at an age where it's okay to have sex from her people's perspective. I understand that feeding on humans comes with a sexual component, and I don't mind that on its own. 

But at the end of the day, she's in an 11 year old's body, and she's still considered a child by vampire standards. Mix in all of the sex along with Wright's possessiveness and his clear underlying racism/homophobia that's hinted at multiple times, and it all just made me feel gross. And dude clearly wanted to sleep with her before the whole biting part.

I was waiting for the ball to drop where she would come to this understanding about him, and it would tie all these themes together, but the story never does. We're just meant to accept and find him endearing even. It was very confusing.

I love some sexy vampire polyamory, but I couldn't enjoy any of it or explore the dynamics because it all just made me want to scrub my skin off. Is this what she wanted? Am I completely misunderstanding? And every time we kiss I swear I can fly? OCTAVIA

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Hate crime

Minor: Homophobia

leadabird's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia

Shori, the main character of Fledgling, is a 53-year-old Ina (vampire) whose appearance resembles an 11-year-old human.

She has romantic and sexual relationships with several adult humans other Ina. Although she is really 53 years old, she is still a child by Ina standards. The novel includes descriptions of her childlike body in sexual situations and of how humans might perceive her relationships with her partners (as child/adult relationships). As in her other work, Butler pushes the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic/sexual relationships. She writes Shori as a consenting adult despite the assurances of the other Ina that she is a child.

This content is, at best, thought-provoking and uncomfortable to read and at worst, triggering and representative of dangerous human behavior.

dominiq_ec's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My first vampire book, but with a very confusing set of sociocultural circumstances, which ultimately go uninvestigated. Honestly, this was about as good as a young adult vampire novel could get, with a dash of racism and pedophilia-adjacent relationships added. The issue is: this isn't a young adult novel, and sociocultural circumstances need to be investigated more than just being there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Death, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

leighsnerdlife's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Blood

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I hate Wright with a burning passion. This book got to repetitive at times.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Xenophobia, Racism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Classism, Pregnancy, Ableism, Blood, and Gaslighting

birdie770's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood

charrlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

Octavia Butler's work in this novel makes you squirm --- it is meant to, and her writing here has been one of the most uncomfortable reading experiences I've had. I'm unsure how to accurately summarize the journey Fledgling has put me through, but I will say Butler has yet to fail in her deliveries. 

This is a text that will have you traversing the themes of blackness & fugitivity and hybridity & "naturalness" while questioning who assumes the role of monsters. Humanity is found in unexpected places as Butler subverts, complicates, and rewrites the expectations and rules of the common Western vampire trope. There is much to discuss about the moral quandaries this book offers. It was a challenging read and probably one of the more horrific books I've read to date.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racism, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Hate crime

Moderate: Blood, Genocide, Classism, Gore, Torture, Physical abuse, Addiction, Slavery, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

happinessie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Racism, Medical trauma, Hate crime, and Gun violence

adiajamille's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I found that i definitely wanted to see where it was going, but that it felt a bit dry. I supposed it’s because Shuri isn’t human and therefore doesn’t speak, think, or process like a human. I thought it was a great introduction to a new series (if that were the intent) and sad, because this one could definitely build into something really exciting. 


I thought a bigger issue than Shuri’s appearance was the excessive ableism displayed during the final chapters of the book. 

The continued discussion around Shuri’s appearance is interesting considering there are real human adults that have genetic conditions that make them appear as children. I would love to find out the reasoning behind Shuri’s appearance, although I felt it was thoroughly explained. (Potential spoilers)
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The part I felt curious about, and I’ll have to look in the book as I listened on audiobook and wasn’t able to rewind at the time, I’d was Wright actually a pedophile? I swear there was allusion to it. 

Overall I think this book brought up a lot of things that need to be examined. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, and Violence