Imago (Xenogenesis, #3)

by Octavia E. Butler

But Humans who accept Oankali mates give up that kind of touching.

Once you go Oankali, you never go back.

Humans thought the ooloi were promising that they would do nothing until the Humans said they had changed their minds—told the ooloi with their mouths, in words. But the ooloi perceived all that a living being said—all words, all gestures, and a vast array of other internal and external bodily responses.

This is more of that rapey "no means yes" theme that is so strong in this series.

“There are easier ways to say these things,” it admitted. “But some things shouldn’t be said easily.”

Nikanj had warned me. Helpless lust and unreasoning anxiety were just part of growing up.

and we could smell fertile, young Humans everywhere.

Creepy AF.

Humans were genetically inclined to be intolerant of difference. They could overcome the inclination, but it was a reality of the Human conflict that they often did not. It was significant that this man was so ready to leave his home with someone he had been taught to think of as a devil—someone he hadn’t even seen yet.