Review by bougies_et_etoiles - Kindred

bougies_et_etoiles 's review for:

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

So many moments made me question why Dana was sacrificing her body and her sanity to ensure her white ancestor Rufus survived. Octavia Butler masterfully found a way to teach her readers how slavery was more than the inhumane physical bondage and horrifying violence: it was also an enslavement of people’s minds to groom them into accepting their condition. The only true hope Dana held onto was that it could all be a fever dream and end anytime she was in danger enough to go back home to 1976. Packed with symbolism and harrowing prose that left you feeling numb with only a sliver of hope for our protagonist to finally come home, Kindred is a book where the story gains momentum slowly but surely and leaves you confused and unmoored when it ends.

Content Warnings