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Jul 19, 2020tokihammer13 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I love Octavia Butler and this is my fifth book of hers that I've read. That said, it's by far my least favorite. The premise is very interesting, in that it's not your traditional vampire story. Vampires build communities, they are not the monsters that we've learned that they are, they are peaceful beings who are trying to live in a world where they are outnumbered by humans and have been dying off. There are some things that happen very quickly that will probably make the reader uncomfortable. It did for me, but I recognized it and figured that was intentional. However, there was one thing that happened I just couldn't get past: the pedophilia. I understand this is explained away and is consensual, but it still made me very, very, uncomfortable. it continued throughout the book, and it just made me cringe every time. The other issue I had was that while we know the main character's true age (eventually), her story is told using words and phrases of someone much younger (like an 11 year old). If we're supposed to suspend our disbelief that she looks MUCH younger than she actually is, why does she think and speak like a young child? Butler doesn't usually write like this, so this also seemed deliberate to me, and I couldn't figure out why.