Fledgling

[2.75] So when I was in the 7th Grade I had a really laid back English teacher, probably a little too laid back, and she would periodically tell us about what books she was reading. It was her way of encouraging students to be interested in reading and to socialize with her students. One of those books she told us about was this book called “Fledgling.” She explained that it was a vampire book, and it being the height of the “Twilight” books and movies this interested a lot of students. She had to quickly explain that this probably wasn't a book for kids our age. Now nearly a decade later, I see why she added that disclaimer. In retrospect, I now realize she probably shouldn't have brought the book up at all to the class, it's got quite a bit of descriptive violence and sexual content. And it's that sexual content that makes me deeply uncomfortable even now as an adult.

In the story, our main character is a young girl of 10 or 11 (it's been a couple weeks since I actually read it so I don't remember exactly) who wakes in a cave, badly injured and with no memories of who or where she is. She eventually finds herself walking on a road where a man in his 20s picks her up. This man is almost immediately infatuated with her and she with him, and they start a relationship...with sex (and bloodsucking). Yes, you heard me; a 20+ year old character and a ~10 year old character have sex in this book. Through the course of the narrative we later learn that she's actually 50+ years old but because vampires age differently she looks 10 by human standards, but still it's a 10 year old's body! I could not get past that element of the story, and it happens a lot, because vampires in this world essentially create a personal harem of humans to drink from and have sex with. It's really fucking gross and a big reason why I'm marking it lower despite some other interesting themes of race and belonging.