This book is as alien as any book about aliens can be. Usually, when I've read books about aliens they were different, had different motivations, technologies, etc. But there was something grounded in the aliens that ultimately reflected something human-like about them. From the first real description of Oankali, too their motivations (which may have/have not been truly addressed), these aliens felt too me to be something too weird that I couldn't resolve what they were.

By the end, I felt some of the joy and revulsion that the main character felt. I was disgusted by them and awed by them. That has never happened to me. I wanted the book to end but I'm drawn to the next one. Octavia Butler was a genius at making me feel exactly what the main character felt. It wasn't the description of them, but of how the main character felt about them that came through. These are aliens that I have never seen. And it's hard to write what I mean all I can do is state: In Guardians of the Galaxy, there is a character that is in essence a walking, talking tree (though it only says one short sentence), but there was a humanness to the character that made me relate. You can't relate to the aliens in this book and that becomes the best part. There is just no relating to the alien species in this. You can relate to the humans but that is about it.

This is a must read book. And if you having difficulty with the aliens then that was, what I believe, the intent. Can't wait to start the next one in the series.