Title: Fledgling

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 2007

Genre: Horror

Pages: 310

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Fledgling, Octavia Butler’s last novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted—and still wants—to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

I picked this up as an extra buddy read with my Nerdy Bookish Friends group after we had read Parable of the Sower. I was definitely intrigued by the idea of Octavia Butler writing a vampire story. I dove in and was very disappointed by the actual story. The entire conceit is that our main character, a vampire, is suffering from amnesia. We have to learn about the world as she learns about the world. I get the concept, but it ends up resulting in a ton of exposition dumps. And the dialogue is often very clunky. None of the conversations seem natural. Finally we get the real reason that I gave it only 2 stars. Our main character is supposed to be 53 years old, but looks like she is 10 years old. Okay fine, but then she engages in very adult sexual encounters. Nope nope nope.

Next up on the TBR pile: