Reviews

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

msturdy11's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

daebug's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

alissamk's review against another edition

3.0

A little conflicted about this one as I think Octavia Butler is absolutely brilliant but there were so many ways in which it felt like this story both went too far and not far enough. Reading this was a bit of a roller coaster.

tibbarasden's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs

kabaoyang's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

notesquotesscarletmotes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Unfortunately, this has been my least favorite of Octavia's works so far. I liked the idea of the Ina but didn't particularly enjoy the way the story was told. So much of the understanding of the world was just characters talking back and forth. There was so little of them experiencing it.

Aside from the way the story was told, I also struggled heavily with so many characters being attracted to someone who is described physically as a ten year old child. While I understand that mentally she's supposed to be significantly older in the story it just never sat well with me.

I liked the adding of science based elements to a vampire story, but I wish there had been more of a focus there.

Overall, this story was just lacking something in comparison with Octavia's other fantastic works.

lindsayreads_theworld's review against another edition

3.75

Excellent writing. Sometimes the main character reminded me of others by this author 

aarnireads's review against another edition

DNF so fucking hard. Ive wanted to try out something from this author for a long time, but this is just dull.

And oh, constantly bringing up how she has the body of a prepubescent child was fucking disgusting. Bye.

trashgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Classic Octavia - but missing some of the bite of her sci-fi explorations of family, queerness, and race. Still a fun romp in the vampire genre & one of the best vampire books I've read.

andrew_matteson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

4.75