A review by ramonaleanna
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This differed from a lot of first person slave narratives in the fact that it brought the perspective of a 1976 black feminist back to secure her own bloodline in the antebellum south—not only that, but it was actually decent. Butler described it as more of a "grim fantasy" than science fiction which I would agree with since the logistics of Dana's time travel was never explained, being used as more of a vehicle to explore the (lived) paradoxes of kinship, family and history (to put it broadly). Butler created a unique dialogue between the modern day African American woman and her ancestors and for that I would categorize this novel alongside Toni Morrison's Beloved as being one of the few neo-slave narratives of merit (in my opinion, most don't need to be written). 
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