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A review by washed_guapi_lee
Imago by Octavia E. Butler
2.0
I did not like this book.
Initial IG review (of all 3)
Read this during winter break, hella fast, for me, because I'm a notoriously slow reader. The first book Dawn had me hooked. The second, Adulthood Rites was my personal favorite. The third, Imago, I really disliked. Also I'm really concerned about anyone who claims this book is a critique or meditation on colonialism, cause if it is, uhm, the "colonizers" not only win, but are the protagonists, and Butler obviously preferred them over the human characters. The misreads are not surprising tho. Part of that is due to reads being performative ("have you read Butler? She's amazing right!?!!) or tied to the politics of representation (this matters cause... insert identity). Let the craft and subtext speak more, please. Still, Butler's world building is phenomenal here. The descriptions next nevel, and each book is a master class in the pacing of plot and character development. And the other thing she does so well is get under the readers skin with her outworld weirdness... y'all, the interspecies threesome sex scenes...
Initial IG review (of all 3)
Read this during winter break, hella fast, for me, because I'm a notoriously slow reader. The first book Dawn had me hooked. The second, Adulthood Rites was my personal favorite. The third, Imago, I really disliked. Also I'm really concerned about anyone who claims this book is a critique or meditation on colonialism, cause if it is, uhm, the "colonizers" not only win, but are the protagonists, and Butler obviously preferred them over the human characters. The misreads are not surprising tho. Part of that is due to reads being performative ("have you read Butler? She's amazing right!?!!) or tied to the politics of representation (this matters cause... insert identity). Let the craft and subtext speak more, please. Still, Butler's world building is phenomenal here. The descriptions next nevel, and each book is a master class in the pacing of plot and character development. And the other thing she does so well is get under the readers skin with her outworld weirdness... y'all, the interspecies threesome sex scenes...