Fledgling by Octavia Butler {review}

I am very glad that I stuck with this book… I’m just not sure how to review it without giving too much away…

Fledgling by Octavia Butler tells the story of Shori. The book begins with Shori waking up in the woods in extreme pain with no memory whatsoever. She doesn’t who, what, or where she is. She appears to be a little black girl of maybe 10, however, Shori is a fifty-three-year-old vampire. A lost child of an ancient species living in symbiosis with humans. Shori is genetically modified, the first of her species to be able to not only be awake during the day but also able to walk in the sun. She is able to do this in part because she is one of the first black vampires.

I think a lot of the magic of the book, specially in the beginning is that you are learning along with Shori. So I don’t want to give too much away. I will say that I think you have to have an open mind when you read this. The story jumps into racism, family, free-will, polyamorous relationships, genetic engineering, sex, and pride. The author created a whole new vampire. I love her take on the mythology. It was different, but it worked. It was one of the most realistic versions of the lore I’ve read.

I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I should write about the part of the book that bothered me in the beginning. I wanted to tell you something that would make it not seem so bad, but I think it’s supposed to bother you. So all I’ll say is don’t give up on it. It may weird you out at first, but it will be ok.

I do highly recommend this book and not just to those who like the paranormal genre. I think that this is more sci-fi/science based than fantasy. And at the bottom of everything it’s really about people and how they treat and think of others.

* Counts towards my 101 Books Challenge