Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

50 reviews

danibee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved the world-building! And the found family overarching themes. 

That being said, Shori’s childlike state made me really uncomfortable, especially when sexualized. I realize the author was trying to examine the parameters consent, but I found those descriptions disturbing/off-putting. I almost stopped reading it several times because of this and had to skip a few sections. Definitely worth being aware of if you’re considering wearing this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

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.    

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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

brynalexa's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

d0505's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content

kisara's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

dubious consent

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