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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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Hate crime
Minor: Homophobia
abmochapman's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I’m a huge fan of Octavia Butler but I don’t know what compelled her to create a world that would make relationships between a adult humans and vampire children a moral grey area.
I mean, I can’t lie and say that I hated Fledgling; its overarching conflict was extremely compelling and slow world-building super interesting. I was literally — and a little ironically — hooked.
This could easily be one of my favorites, but the uncomfortable grey area in the relationships central to the book is a hard sell. Sure, it makes some sense within the confines of the book and its world, but I just don’t understand why she decided to write it so thatthe young protagonist appears as a prepubescent child who has sexual relationships with adults . Like, pray tell, what does this say about society?
A lot of other readers have mixed feelings about the book and I honestly don’t know how to feel, but I wouldn’t say that it’s simply not worth reading at all (unless the topic matter is triggering to you — then please skip this one). However, if you choose to read with a grain of salt, maybe you’ll understand Butler’s intentions better than I could.
I mean, I can’t lie and say that I hated Fledgling; its overarching conflict was extremely compelling and slow world-building super interesting. I was literally — and a little ironically — hooked.
This could easily be one of my favorites, but the uncomfortable grey area in the relationships central to the book is a hard sell. Sure, it makes some sense within the confines of the book and its world, but I just don’t understand why she decided to write it so that
A lot of other readers have mixed feelings about the book and I honestly don’t know how to feel, but I wouldn’t say that it’s simply not worth reading at all (unless the topic matter is triggering to you — then please skip this one). However, if you choose to read with a grain of salt, maybe you’ll understand Butler’s intentions better than I could.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
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