A review by luminous
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

5.0

The audiobook is exceptional. The book itself is amazing. Horrible feeling on the pit of your stomach the whole time you read it. It's unsettling. So many themes that are interesting to me. Butler has imagined what an encounter with spacefaring aliens would be like for humans, and even though humans have already destroyed themselves in nuclear war, that almost makes it even more difficult to accept. There will be no HFY coming together of the human race to say hell no we don't want what you're selling. Nope. These aliens are more advanced and they have a plan for the surviving humans and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it and that chills me to the bone. And the worst thing is, this would be one of the BEST first contact scenarios. The aliens are peaceful and benevolent but despite their claims of being there for Trade, the humans have no say.

Stockholm Syndrome, colonialism, wearing people down through solitary confinement, violations of bodily autonomy, sterilization