Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

24 reviews

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

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

gavig's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

buttercat42's review against another edition

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? No

3.75

Left me wanting to know more about the world and the characters, although I preferred the first half to the second half

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

yeahnaar's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.25

This book feels very young adult - which isn’t bad if that’s a genre you like. The plot is overly linear, and thematically it doesn’t engage with the topic of race in an especially interesting or engaging way. Most problematic is that the book seems to needlessly promote paedophilic relationships, and goes out of its way to make the main character resemble a small child and then have sexual relationships with adults. If you can get past that then it’s an ok book, but normalising pedophilia is a weird and not at all ok thing to do. I would rate the book more highly if not for this element of it 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, and Cannibalism

lydiature_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this one.

On one hand, I’d give it 4 ⭐️ just for the plot. It was a fast-paced story that intrigued me from the beginning to the end. It had the right amount of gore without being disgusting and creepy. I could definitely see this as an A24 movie (which I wouldn’t watch, because horror movies scare the hell out of me & I like my sleep).

My biggest gripe with this book, however, is Shori’s age. So technically she’s a 53 year old vampire, but she looks like a literal CHILD. As if that can’t be bad, she gets into SEXUAL relationships with ADULTS. And these adults (at least two of them—Wright and Theodora) are sexually attracted to her before knowing her actual age. So again, she LOOKS like a 10 year old child, but that doesn’t stop them from being sexually attracted to her. That’s disgusting. Now, you can say whatever you want, but objectively speaking, there is no reason for Shori to look like a child. Butler could have made her 18 even, but she didn’t. And like I said, I have a really big problem with that. That just poisoned the whole reading experience for me (and why I won’t ever give this more than 3 ⭐️).

As far as the characters—they were kinda bland, including Shori. Wright was kinda just there (and a whole creep). Shori didn’t really have any personality beyond: “I’m hungry! I’m horny! I can’t remember anything!” But she wasn’t annoying to the point where I couldn’t enjoy the actual storyline. Towards the 60%, there were way too many characters introduced. Lots of name-dropping but barely any development. I don’t think half of them were even that important to the plot. The ending was unsatisfying, almost like a cliff-hanger. I’m not sure if this is a series, but if it is, I 100% will NOT be reading it. 

Would I recommend? Eh. Depends on your squeamishness regarding idk ~ cannibalism, potential incest, lots of blood, adjacent pedophilia. I found a book that Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer would love, but I don’t know what this says about me for finishing this (don’t tell my therapist).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Cannibalism

Minor: Pedophilia

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

This is the first book I have ever read by Octavia E. Butler and I am over the MOON happy after reading this.

The MC is a Black Vampire whom is desirable, courageous, brave, unforgettable and a refreshing character. She wakes up in a cave in excruciating pain with no memory of what happened to her nor who she is. We come to know the world through her eyes and who she is as the story progresses. Along with help from those on the way.

I did mentally clutch my metaphoric pearls (especially while driving) listening to the audiobook. This is definitely more for mature audiences. It's so difficult to express my love for this novel without dumping spoilers. Just impossible.

Found family, my favorite trope, plays a major role in Fledgling and I could 100% relisten to this again and again.    

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism