I greatly admire Octavia Butler, and have loved the three books by her which I'd read prior to "Fledgling" (Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, Kindred). Fledgling is quite good, but does quite break through to that same level of greatness. 
 That said, Fledgling is an interesting twist on what's become one of the most overdone genres, the vampire novel. In Fledgling, vampire are actually a species known as Ina, whose written history goes back over ten thousand years. Ina live in closely-knit family groupings, along with their human symbionts -- the humans whose blood sustains them in a mutually satisfying relationship. Main character Shori is still a child by Ina standards -- only 53 years old. Her memory is wiped out by severe injuries suffered during a brutal attack on her family, of which she is the only survivor. While all Ina tend to be tall and pale-skinned, thanks to genetic engineering, Shori has the appearance of a 10-year-old African American child, and is thus able to survive daylight, unheard of for Ina. In order to survive and start a new life for herself and her symbionts, Shori must uncover the perpetrators of the attacks and must understand the killers' motives. In Fledgling, Butler uses the Ina people's prejudices and fears as a stand-in for our own culture's inherent racism. 
 I enjoyed Fledgling, although Butler occasionally displays a tendency toward the preachy. Interestingly, several minor plots points made me wonder if Stephenie Meyer had ever read this book, as I notice some broad similarities to elements of Twlight and Breaking Dawn. 
 I do recommend Fledgling, but with the caveat that this is not Butler's strongest work, although unfortunately it was her last.