I started out not really enjoying this book, but I wanted to push through and I’m glad I did. I feel like the story really takes off around 45% in and once I got there it was hard to put it down. I think that Octavia Butler did a wonderful job of having a modern day (1970s) Black woman face the horrors of slavery and have to navigate not only that time period but the ways in which slave relationships and slave-master (both intimate and non-intimate) exist and function. At times Dana’s actions and thoughts frustrated me given the situation and her relationship with Rufus, but I think that it’s probably a very realistic portrayal. On page 229 Dana says of the slaves’ relationship/attitude towards Rufus, “strangely, they seemed to like him, hold him in contempt, and fear him all at the same time” and that “only the overseer drew simple, unconflicting emotions of hatred and fear…but then, it was the overseer’s job to be hated and feared while the master kept his hands clean”. Overall I rated this book 4.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and would definitely recommend it, especially to anyone wanting to read about slavery and race relations. I think it has so much insight.

🎧 audiobook I really enjoyed this story. I especially liked the narrator, I think she did a wonderful job making each character stand out. I also appreciated the correct pronunciations of Chinese words and names. In terms of plot, I felt like Amélie Wen Zhao did a great job of discussing the brutality of colonialism in a YA novel. The characters were compelling, and I enjoyed the way in which both the main characters and side characters had their own trauma that guides who they view resistance. Furthermore, i really liked the expansion of how prior cultural and religious destruction and gatekeeping directly affected how the Last Kingdom was felled by the Etlantian invasion. I feel like there is an interesting through line of how the finer Hin empire restricted practioning and the way in which the 99 clans were wiped out in a way mirror how the Etlantians have been imposing their language and culture on the Hin people (such as renaming streets and places to forcing Hin to take on monosyllabic names)