Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Kindred

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

63 reviews

nick13's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have never read any of Octavia Butler's work before but now I need to check some more out because this read was astounding, emotional, but astounding. Every single character in this was incredibly well written and well thought out, making every one of them believable, even if some are VERY unlikable.

All I wish more for in this story was for the time the characters spent in their present to be more fleshed out along with Edana and Kevin's relationship to be a bit more expounded upon instead of just presumed throughout the book.

But really, if all I'm wishing for in a story is more of it, it clearly did something very well.

Content Warnings

kmccann98's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

lpendergran's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is probably one of the most challenging books I’ve ever read, but I think it’s absolutely necessary for non black people to read this. Beautifully written.

Content Warnings

hunkydory's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

gummifrog's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was an excellent read - and for myself, as a white person, it was very challenging. In many places, it was difficult to stomach the violence and emotional pain and abuse slaves were subject to at the hands of their white subjugators.

Butler makes an effort to explore so many ideas in this - the intimacy of the relationship between these two groups, because there can be intimacy in hatred and distance. No amount of intimacy can close the gap, though, between the person who keeps you ground under your foot. Interracial relationships and the comparison and contrast between how they would have existed between both time periods was also a large theme.

I was most captured by the resilience, cunning, and analytical strength of the main character, Dana. She feels the guilt of having been born in a period where black people are no longer slaves in the US. Although she is no less consenting to the horrors she is subject to, she is entrapped in many ways and ultimately chooses to free herself physically - but always with the ramifications of what she went through mentally, leaving behind a piece of herself always in the past. There is a lot of emotional content and philosophy behind the action Dana takes at the end of the book, and I definitely need some time to sit with it and absorb it.

This is a powerful historical fiction / scifi novel, the precursor to Outlander, but so much more culturally relevant and an absolute must-read. While reading it, I was surprised about how many people hadn't even heard of it. This is absolutely a classic that cannot be missed.

Content Warnings