Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - La luce del sole

This book is really hard to rate because everything about it was amazing and brilliant.... except Butler's choice to have Shori present as a 10 year old child, that was a constant issue for me. I'm sure she did that with purpose, she was such a brilliant writer, but at the end it was a matter of how much I'd knock off of an otherwise 5⭐ read.

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galaxyelfjess's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.5

Good book for the first half, second half wasn't as good

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rainasage's review against another edition

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yeahnaar's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.25

This book feels very young adult - which isn’t bad if that’s a genre you like. The plot is overly linear, and thematically it doesn’t engage with the topic of race in an especially interesting or engaging way. Most problematic is that the book seems to needlessly promote paedophilic relationships, and goes out of its way to make the main character resemble a small child and then have sexual relationships with adults. If you can get past that then it’s an ok book, but normalising pedophilia is a weird and not at all ok thing to do. I would rate the book more highly if not for this element of it

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beanjoles's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

Oof. That was a slog. If this hadn't been an Octavia Butler story, I wouldn't have finished it.

I'm not huge on the concept of vampires anyway, but what really got me was the apparent pedophilia and lack of meaningful consent to sexual or romantic relationships. Did we need a description of how Wright was excited to have sex with a seemingly pre-pubescent child? Maybe if Butler had been able to continue this as a series, we'd have seen why she made this writing choice. But unfortunately we can only interpret it in a vacuum... and in that vacuum, it feels real weird.

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takemetomilos's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

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

4.25

another book that is going to stick with me- I need to reflect further on the themes and messaging beyond what a first casual read can give, but wow, what a book.

The Atlantic has a fantastic article about it which is helpful is clarifying the authors intentions in upsetting the consent dynamics - shori’s physical presentation and sexual relationship is definitely wildly uncomfortable, but knowing Butler as an author is to know that nothing is without reason. The complains of pedophilia are entirely reasonable and turn a lot of people away from this book, and would have for me if I was not so confident in Butler’s voice.

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/02/fledgling-octavia-butler-reissue-consent/621420/

(Moving review down from 5.0 to 4.25 stars- horror aspects didn’t stick with me as much, wish consent dynamics were explored further)

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lydiature_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this one.

On one hand, I’d give it 4 ⭐️ just for the plot. It was a fast-paced story that intrigued me from the beginning to the end. It had the right amount of gore without being disgusting and creepy. I could definitely see this as an A24 movie (which I wouldn’t watch, because horror movies scare the hell out of me & I like my sleep).

My biggest gripe with this book, however, is Shori’s age. So technically she’s a 53 year old vampire, but she looks like a literal CHILD. As if that can’t be bad, she gets into SEXUAL relationships with ADULTS. And these adults (at least two of them—Wright and Theodora) are sexually attracted to her before knowing her actual age. So again, she LOOKS like a 10 year old child, but that doesn’t stop them from being sexually attracted to her. That’s disgusting. Now, you can say whatever you want, but objectively speaking, there is no reason for Shori to look like a child. Butler could have made her 18 even, but she didn’t. And like I said, I have a really big problem with that. That just poisoned the whole reading experience for me (and why I won’t ever give this more than 3 ⭐️).

As far as the characters—they were kinda bland, including Shori. Wright was kinda just there (and a whole creep). Shori didn’t really have any personality beyond: “I’m hungry! I’m horny! I can’t remember anything!” But she wasn’t annoying to the point where I couldn’t enjoy the actual storyline. Towards the 60%, there were way too many characters introduced. Lots of name-dropping but barely any development. I don’t think half of them were even that important to the plot. The ending was unsatisfying, almost like a cliff-hanger. I’m not sure if this is a series, but if it is, I 100% will NOT be reading it.

Would I recommend? Eh. Depends on your squeamishness regarding idk ~ cannibalism, potential incest, lots of blood, adjacent pedophilia. I found a book that Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer would love, but I don’t know what this says about me for finishing this (don’t tell my therapist).

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gellyreads's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a hard rating to give. As per usual, with Butler’s work, there are some really dark, twisted, and traumatic topics. But they’re always there for a reason. I think the main thing that I find enjoyable about this work is the unique perspective of the vampire for. And I love the vampire politics that happen, especially at the end of the novel. This ended up being pretty fun, after a rocky start.

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