I wish I liked it

At the end of Octavia Butler's book, the first thought, after of course relief, was, "I really wish I liked that book." I wanted to like the book, I really did.
What tripped my up in my enjoyment of the book was the language. For some people, the reason why they connected so well with the writing style was through the accessibility of the langauge, but I found it to be too simplistic and honestly a little adolescent for my taste. Going into a novel I want to be linguistically wowed, inspired to write better in my own life. And Butler for me came up a bit short, especially in the dialogue between Shori and her symbionts. The phrasing didn't pop for me, and the word choice fell a little flat. I guess my cup of tea is a little more Jones-esque, even though at times some people think they're wading in the language. To me, one of the reasons why I enjoy reading is to unpack the language- it's a challenge that I like to tackle.
While I didn't particularly enjoy the way in which the book was written, I can see the ways in which Shori's experience can be extrapolated to a greater African-American experience. At the end of the book, as the diaspora of the Silk family is punishment for the crimes against Shori's maternal and paternal families the parallels with African Americans is clear. The reason why the book connects so well to these issues is because the themes of loss, isolation, and self-definition are made apparent in a strong way. This book has the ability to reach audiences that normally would not come into contact with typical African American themes, and I have to applaud Octavia Butler on that acheivement. Because the genre in which she writes is even more dominated by white males, she truly is one of the only African American voices heard by many readers.
I was less than pleased with my overall enjoyment of the book, but I can't expect to like every single book I read. To be fair, there are just some books for some people, and I can appreciate the themes the book explores. I just didn't feel blown away, but that's alright.