“The ease. Us, the children... I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.” This novel utterly captivated me from the very first sentence up until the last. The descriptions of the lives of the enslaved people on the plantation were harrowing; Dana’s struggles to stay alive in a time when she suddenly had no rights were heartbreaking. Both the characters and the plot were crafted so well, it was incredibly easy to get drawn into the story. It was frightening to read about how quickly people can acclimatize themselves to circumstances of discrimination and violence, as the protagonist herself states at one point in the story. This was an evocative, thought-provoking read that I will keep thinking about. Octavia E. Butler is one of the greatest, most beloved American writers for good reason.