A review by gemstonejasper
Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Octavia E Butler doesn't write books that should be read all at once. In my experience, they're much better when you take time to digest each section. This is to her credit because she has this unique way of mirroring humanity back to the reader. This book follows Akin, the first human-born male construct (human/alien hybrid). It follows him as he grows up in this role. How do others treat him because of these things he has no control over? How can he find his place in the world while facing this contradiction within him? It also has an interesting commentary on consent vs coercion and is allowing people to live always a mercy, or can it be a cruelty. There are so many themes that are explored and I love it. I would recommend all of her books that I've read, this one included.

I just want to talk about how horrible all parties are to Akin. The resister humans kidnap him and are often very abusive towards him. But it's revealed that the aliens left him with the humans for a prolonged period on purpose. This caused great pain for both him and his sibling. This thing that is so crucial to his development and life as an alien was stolen from him by both parties. I would even argue that the aliens are more to blame because they fully understood what they were doing to him and how it would affect him, whereas the humans couldn't fully understand. They used him as an experimental rat without a care for his well-being. I think all of it was cruel. That's one thing that irks me about the aliens. They are so calculated, clinical and logical. Sure, they can feel emotions. But they lean much farther towards the calculated, logical side than humans normally would. This comes with positives, like being about to do things with their bodies and advance themselves. But it also comes with the negatives of being unable to really relate to the other species they encounter (such as humans). Maybe the third book will introduce the aliens as having their own contradiction.


After I finished, there was a passage I kept coming back to read. Akin is advocating for the humans to have Mars. An older alien (I forget what it was called) basically told him that they would let him do what he believes is right, but that it is a cruelty. Akin protests, but is forced to acknowledge that it likely is a cruelty. Yet he still holds out hope for the possibility that the humans will be able to overcome their contradiction.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings