Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

57 reviews

mcfox5455's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

4.5

i liked this a lot! i was skeptical of it being a vampire book since i never got into vampires books that much, but fledgling intentionally challenges the general idea of vamps. its pretty cool ! its fun to see what Butler kept from general vampire lore and what she completely omits. this book was a lot of fun to read after reading the parable series since there are a lot of similarities in the general feel. i think if you like parable, you'll likely like this book too! i found it to be a relatively quick, easy read and something to sink hours into at a time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Murder and Violence

There is a use of a racial slur once in this book as well as repeated racist remarks towards humans and certain vampires.

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

d0505's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

thatswhatjeanread's review

tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

islandbookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Minor: Animal death

moonlitemuseum's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Fledgling is unflinching. Sometimes it feels like it might be a mercy to forget the reality within the book, not least its main character's incredibly young-looking body, but Butler never relents. You will see everything. You will learn about the strange, almost human nature of Butler's vampires and accept them. And in spite of yourself, you will enjoy it.
There were some moments I felt uncomfortable and disturbed, but they made the tale all the more satisfying when it reached its end. The characters that form Shori's unlikely pack have strong voices and interesting bonds, and the vampires—the Ina—are fascinating, thoroughly convinced of their own moral purity in a way that feels all too resonant many years on. A great book that would have made a great series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Shori is actually much older than many of the adult men she "couples" with but has a child's body. This is framed as horror, and is very effective!

heirloomroses's review

adventurous challenging emotional slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

sweetdee27's review

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Classism, and Grief

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

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