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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…
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…
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
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
lillieslibraryy's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, and Pedophilia
leadabird's review
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
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.corriejn's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship
angreadseverything's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Racism
dominiq_ec's review
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.
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
buttercat42's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Left me wanting to know more about the world and the characters, although I preferred the first half to the second half
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail
shansreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
i enjoyed this book, it kept my attention but wasn't intriguing in the way i wanted it to be. butler's writing just lacked the style to draw me in to the story, it was too factual :(
but the idea of putting our main character in a ten year old's body (while she is 53, but that's still considered too young to mate in their species) definitely did its job of making me very uncomfortable throughout this book.
but the plot was very interesting and gripping, and i really enjoyed this new take on vampires and how much we get to learn about their species!!
probably not her best work but ily octavia <3
but the idea of putting our main character in a ten year old's body (while she is 53, but that's still considered too young to mate in their species) definitely did its job of making me very uncomfortable throughout this book.
but the plot was very interesting and gripping, and i really enjoyed this new take on vampires and how much we get to learn about their species!!
probably not her best work but ily octavia <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Racial slurs
swaldman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Death
Minor: Gun violence and Racial slurs