Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

55 reviews

taroroot's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i don't read much vampire or sci-fi stuff but i like Octavia Butler so i read this. i enjoyed her unique take on vampires. the apparent age of the main character is difficult to accept and uncomfortable to deal with in many parts of the book. Shori is placed in a lot of sexual contexts while appearing as a 10 year old child (idc if she's really 53,

she's still considered a child by her own peoples' standards

) i'm sure this was intentional on the behalf of the author however i really struggled with not thinking of every character as a perv.

Wright is lesbophobic as fuck for saying that Shori's relationships with women didn't affect him as much but when she gets a male symbiont suddenly polyamory is a big deal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Lesbophobia

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

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

Minor: Animal death

mwass's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

5.0

I love how Butler explores morally grey relationships and uses the reader’s uncomfortablity as a tool to do so! She effortlessly builds a fleshed out believable world that sucks you in, while also tackling issues such as racism and consent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

plainpaige's review against another edition

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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Incest, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Alcohol

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is my second time reading this (it took me 2 days to finish) and my previous comments/review basically sum up how I feel about this book. I wanted to add that I always love how diverse Butler's characters are. Last time I rated this 3.5 stars but this time I'm bumping it up and rating it 4 stars. It's not my favorite Butler book but it was still good and well written. I really appreciate the commentary on racism and disability.  

I still have an issue with the main character having sexual relationships with adults when she looks to be only 10 or 11 years old, but this time around I tried to ignore that it was happening. This would have gotten 5 stars from me if the main character had looked like she was at least in her 20s. 

(Sept 14th, 2023)
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It took me so long to finish this because I was triggered that the main protagonist, who looks 10 years old but is a 53 year old vampire, keeps having sex with various human adults. I finished this for book club and because I loved Octavia E. Butler but I couldn't get into it because of all the sexual content involving someone who looks 10 yrs old. This is my least liked and lowest rated Octavia E. Butler book.

I like the lore on vampires and the vampiric world building, and I liked the commentary on racism and disability. I just had a hard time with the triggering content. I don't understand why Shori wasn't just made to look like an adult. 

3.5 out of 5 Stars rounded up because of the cool concepts and commentary on racism and disability.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

excellent_taste's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

Really interesting, also disturbing. I do not know how I feel about it but it was well written. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

lexnicole's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest and Cannibalism

snipinfool's review against another edition

CW: Shibori

presents as a pre-pubescent 9-10 year old, but she is a 53 year old vampire who engages in consensual sex. When we first meet her, she is found by a 23 year old guy who is not bothered by having sex with someone who appears that young

, usual vampire blood and gore.

DNF at 60%. Listening to the audiobook and it was putting me sleep. I wanted to like it but it was repetitive and

I get it. Shiori has amnesia so the other characters have to tell her what the Ina (what Shiori is) are and how they live. This goes on the whole time.

who the bad guy were was obvious. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jayeless's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Trafficking

There is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a 53-year-old vampire who LOOKS like a prepubescent girl.

vee_nusflytrap's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

One of my favorites! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest