Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

72 reviews

plainpaige's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

1.5

Ooof. I would have liked this book more if not for the shadow cast over it by the explicit pedophilia of it all. Of course, some will say it's not actually pedophilia, the "child" protagonist was in her 50s! But let's just say, this book will never be made into a movie. Even disregarding the explicit relationships between this person who appears to be ~10 years old, I had trouble finding myself interested in the story or the characters. A third of this book was judicial bureaucratic boredom, and perhaps Butler could have expanded it into a more interesting series, but I personally wouldn't have read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Classism, Mental illness, Death of parent, Ableism, Gun violence, Addiction, Racism, Violence, Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Alcohol, and Incest

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is my second time reading this (it took me 2 days to finish) and my previous comments/review basically sum up how I feel about this book. I wanted to add that I always love how diverse Butler's characters are. Last time I rated this 3.5 stars but this time I'm bumping it up and rating it 4 stars. It's not my favorite Butler book but it was still good and well written. I really appreciate the commentary on racism and disability.  

I still have an issue with the main character having sexual relationships with adults when she looks to be only 10 or 11 years old, but this time around I tried to ignore that it was happening. This would have gotten 5 stars from me if the main character had looked like she was at least in her 20s. 

(Sept 14th, 2023)
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It took me so long to finish this because I was triggered that the main protagonist, who looks 10 years old but is a 53 year old vampire, keeps having sex with various human adults. I finished this for book club and because I loved Octavia E. Butler but I couldn't get into it because of all the sexual content involving someone who looks 10 yrs old. This is my least liked and lowest rated Octavia E. Butler book.

I like the lore on vampires and the vampiric world building, and I liked the commentary on racism and disability. I just had a hard time with the triggering content. I don't understand why Shori wasn't just made to look like an adult. 

3.5 out of 5 Stars rounded up because of the cool concepts and commentary on racism and disability.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

nikkiacat's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

excellent_taste's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

Really interesting, also disturbing. I do not know how I feel about it but it was well written. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Murder, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexism, and Pedophilia

lexnicole's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Death, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, Biphobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism and Incest

leighae's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.75

A collision of fantasy, sci-fi, realism, and romance while speeding past looming social issues, including the nauseating sexualization of an apparent child. Generally be prepared for this bizarre kaleidoscope as it makes for a bumpy read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Blood, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

mjscooke's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Butler tackles the fascinating premise of what it would be like to be a vampire with amnesia in such an interesting way that weaves together the very real human questions of morality, identity and justice. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Racism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

leanne_miron's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, Cannibalism, Racism, and Blood

queer_bookwyrm's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, hunting, descriptions of blood and gore, blood drinking, eating raw meat, sexual content, racism/bigotry, slurs, pedophilia? 

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler is the last book she wrote before she died in 2006. This is a bittersweet moment for me, since it means I've now read all of Butler's published works (except for Survivor since it's out of print). I guess now this means rereads! 

We follow Shori Matthews as she wakes up in a cave with severe injuries and no knowledge of who she is, where she came from, or how this happened. We learn quickly that Shori isn't human. After healing fully and finding burnt ruins of a community, she is picked up on the side of the road by a good Samaritan, named Wright, who thinks he's helping a child in distress. Shori realizes she's actually a vampire after she bites him. They go on a mission to learn more about Shori and her past and to find others like her.

Shori is a creature called an Ina, who take humans as their symbionts. Ina can't survive without humans, and the Ina extend the lives of the humans bonded to them. A good chunk of the book is spent figuring out who killed Shori's families. Butler has been fond of writing about unique and complex family structures, and the Ina/symbiont family structure is no different. Butler did such a good job with establishing a culture so different from our own, that at first it was hard to read. 

The main barrier for someone reading this book would be the apparent pedophilia. Though Shori is a 53 year old vampire, she has the body of a ten year old human girl, and is still considered a child by Ina standards. In Ina communities, children Shori's age start acquiring symbionts and part of the feeding process involves pleasure that turns into sex. In essence we have human men having sex with a person who looks prepubescent. This is a pretty muddy line, since Shori is clearly old enough to consent, even though if she were human she wouldn't be. 

This was clearly meant to be a series, but Butler died before she got the chance. I would love to have seen Shori grow up and learn more about the complex society of Ina. Butler's vampire lore is so different from any other vampire book I've read. As always, Butler includes real world problems in her own way. There are themes of racism and bigotry, consent, and free will. We also have a lot of polyamory and queer characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Gore, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Blood, and Racism

jayeless's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Hate crime

Minor: Racism, Trafficking, and Racial slurs

There is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a 53-year-old vampire who LOOKS like a prepubescent girl.