Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

57 reviews

alexareads27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? No

2.0

This is a tough one to rate. The premise of a Black vampire with amnesia was really intriguing to  me and there were many points where I was invested in the storyline. But, I  couldn’t really get past the basically pedophilic content of Shori looking like an 11 year old with an adult brain. Some parts were very disturbing to read and I only kept going because this was a pick for my book club. The writing felt really off in a lot of parts. 
It’s very heavy on description and felt very slow in the last third of the novel. I think I understand what Butler was trying to do here and in some sections it was successful but it ultimately didn’t work for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Violence

peachani's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

1. This is about vampires, but
   they work much like the aliens in Butler's other books.
2. Again, I struggle with understanding why Butler includes taboo sex acts. I don't think it's for shock value. 
3. The
   trial and detective work
   were the most interesting parts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

fannylaine's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal death

franklloydweft's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I gave this a worse review on fable, but after reading Anne Rice it gets a higher rating from me now!

Copied from fable:
The only reason this isn’t getting a higher rating from me is for things that I think Butler totally intended, but I just couldn’t get past. The idea of Shori having the appearance of a 10 year old child without her memory, despite her not being human, and still behaving sexually with adult human beings really icked me out. I felt better and better about it as I read, but I cannot get past the sheer discomfort it gave me in the beginning. I also thought that particular element took away from my enjoyment more than enhancing it. I understand what Butler was doing with that particular detail; it’s deliberately uncomfortable to our human sensibilities and further *others* the Ina from us in a subtle way. However, I think for me personally it detracted from this overall very interesting take on vampire lore. The idea of symbionts having an almost exclusively sexual relationship towards feeding was a little off-putting for me too. I think I would have liked it better if that relationship was more ambiguous. No matter, I still really enjoyed this book!

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence

kemrick19's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

roseandivy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

this was kind of just... solidly mediocre? i want to try something else of octavia butler's, but i found the back half of this kind of boring and confusing (i couldn't keep the names of all the council ina and symbionts straight), and the fact that shori looked like a child was really off-putting-- which i suppose was the point, but it made it hard for me to focus on anything else in the book. i thought the take on vampires was interesting, but that couldn't make up for the fact that i found wright irritating and the plot dragged on.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Incest, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, and Pregnancy

tamara_joy's review against another edition

Too icky.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Cannibalism

rainbowrachel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, there's a lot to like here. Butler was a great writer, and as is expected from her work, this was laced with intesting social commentary and world building. On the other had, this is probably my least favourite of Butler's works that I've read so far and, yes, the "it's not really paedophilia because she's actually a vampire" thing is hard to get over. On another day, I might have ended up rating this consdierably higher or considerably lower, but a somewhat middling rating does seem right.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

wanderingprion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

leadabird's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia

Shori, the main character of Fledgling, is a 53-year-old Ina (vampire) whose appearance resembles an 11-year-old human.

She has romantic and sexual relationships with several adult humans other Ina. Although she is really 53 years old, she is still a child by Ina standards. The novel includes descriptions of her childlike body in sexual situations and of how humans might perceive her relationships with her partners (as child/adult relationships). As in her other work, Butler pushes the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic/sexual relationships. She writes Shori as a consenting adult despite the assurances of the other Ina that she is a child.

This content is, at best, thought-provoking and uncomfortable to read and at worst, triggering and representative of dangerous human behavior.