Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

48 reviews

doctorw0rm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Racism, and Gun violence

it’s technically not pedophilia bc shori is an adult who is actually older than every character she has sex with, BUT she does have the appearance of a 10 year old. she is also described as a child by other vampires though since they age much more slowly than we do, but they also consider it normal for vampires of her age to have sex with adults. so it’s complicated idk. but i think it’s good to have a warning bc i kind of wanted to throw up at first

takemetomilos's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

Minor: Racial slurs

tesslaah's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

The world building in this book was interesting but I wish the actual storyline had been developed more. I loved that Butler used the avenue of fantasy and vampire-like people to discuss racism and genetics. Butler does force readers to reconsider notions of consent and perspective of the normalcy in the world. However, one of those avenues was through child sexual activity (abuse) which even with reframing felt like too much and I wish another avenue had been explored instead. 
Ultimately, Fledgling was interesting but ended abruptly and despite a lot of explanation there was not as much storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Racism

risaleel's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Genocide

Moderate: Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Racism, War, Violence, and Racial slurs

Minor: Gaslighting, Classism, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, and Drug use

linblythe_pub22's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Violence, Medical trauma, Blood, and Gun violence

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is the first book I have ever read by Octavia E. Butler and I am over the MOON happy after reading this.

The MC is a Black Vampire whom is desirable, courageous, brave, unforgettable and a refreshing character. She wakes up in a cave in excruciating pain with no memory of what happened to her nor who she is. We come to know the world through her eyes and who she is as the story progresses. Along with help from those on the way.

I did mentally clutch my metaphoric pearls (especially while driving) listening to the audiobook. This is definitely more for mature audiences. It's so difficult to express my love for this novel without dumping spoilers. Just impossible.

Found family, my favorite trope, plays a major role in Fledgling and I could 100% relisten to this again and again.    

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Genocide

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

brynalexa's review

emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Racism

catalyst226's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Short Review: Damn, even vampires are racist...

Actual Review:
Vampire lore, critiques of bigotry and racism, mystery, and Butler's incredibly compelling writing style. Need I say more?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Racial slurs and Murder

taroroot's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i don't read much vampire or sci-fi stuff but i like Octavia Butler so i read this. i enjoyed her unique take on vampires. the apparent age of the main character is difficult to accept and uncomfortable to deal with in many parts of the book. Shori is placed in a lot of sexual contexts while appearing as a 10 year old child (idc if she's really 53,

she's still considered a child by her own peoples' standards

) i'm sure this was intentional on the behalf of the author however i really struggled with not thinking of every character as a perv.

Wright is lesbophobic as fuck for saying that Shori's relationships with women didn't affect him as much but when she gets a male symbiont suddenly polyamory is a big deal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Butler's writing is incredible. It's so simplistic and straight forward, so it's so easy to lose yourself into the novel, but she never looses the deep, powerful world building and commentary. I have genuinely never read anyone else who manages to do what she does. There is a "slice of life" feel to Butler's books and Fledgling is no exception. The concepts explored around racism, hatred, love, power and consent are so artfully done. I get where other reviews are coming from saying it is info dumpy or too slow/boring. I found having Shori loose her memory was an incredible way for us to be on the journey of discovering and judging the world of the Ina with her. I didn't find it info dumpy because of it being handled through that lens. And yes, the story isn't very action packed or over the top in the giant wars and mythic quests way a lot of fantasy/scifi books are. The drama, violence, and tension is much more of a slow burn that really allows you to melt into Shori and her journey. This is the most unique vampire novel I've ever read. It blurs the lines of scifi and fantasy really well. The vampire world of the Ina is so fascinating as is their relationship to humans. They hold themselves so far above humans but, as we see more of how they behave and the crimes they commit, are they? Absolutely love everything Butler accomplished here.  I wish it could have been a series, I'd love to know what the future holds for Shori and her eventual children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Blood, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Misogyny