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literarylion's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.75
Pros:
- Impeccable world-building without falling into the trap of over-description
- Well-paced and engaging
- A unique take on a trope
Cons:
- I wish Butler had continued this in a series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Cannibalism
sofipitch's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The writing style is really simple, 70% of this book is dialogue. Personally I'm not crazy about it. And this books is slow-paced but Carrie's no emotion. I think I've read plot summaries that carry more emotional weight than this. The characters aren't characters but vehicles to move the plot forward. And everything about vampirism is just taken at face-value, vampirism explores themes of being an outsiders and existential dread, and this book doesn't. It comes up with vampire lore that completely rejects the roots of what makes vampire literature good. This books moral themes were just too black and white.
What I really did NOT like was the sexual content of this book. The main character, Shori, is a 53 yr old vampire, but she looks 10/11. She has sexual relationships with adult humans which is uncomfy and what makes it worse is that she and her partner didn't know she was "technically an adult" by human standards (50ish) (butshe is explicitly stated to be child in the vampire culture and not developed sexually, wtf wtf)before they had sex. So basically this character, Wright, was just interested in having sex with a child. And even the backup logic of the given culture supports viewing Shori as a child, not an adult. I wish I had known this before buying the book, bc I don't like whatever this mess is, and I probably wouldn't have bought it.
I had Parable of the Sower and Kindred on my reading lists but I don't know if I want to read anything else by Butler.
What I really did NOT like was the sexual content of this book. The main character, Shori, is a 53 yr old vampire, but she looks 10/11. She has sexual relationships with adult humans which is uncomfy and what makes it worse is that she and her partner didn't know she was "technically an adult" by human standards (50ish) (butshe is explicitly stated to be child in the vampire culture and not developed sexually, wtf wtf)before they had sex. So basically this character, Wright, was just interested in having sex with a child. And even the backup logic of the given culture supports viewing Shori as a child, not an adult. I wish I had known this before buying the book, bc I don't like whatever this mess is, and I probably wouldn't have bought it.
I had Parable of the Sower and Kindred on my reading lists but I don't know if I want to read anything else by Butler.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism
sionnac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I realized I am not a vampire plot person. The suspense builds well and I cared about Shori but the imagery of a child like being in sexual relationships was disturbing. Audio read by Tracey Leigh was what I started with, but I ran out of time on my digital library loan, and finished listening to the version read by Adenrele Ojo which i liked better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Gore and Racism
Minor: Cannibalism
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