A review by zforzo
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

So… I Will say that this book really made up for itself in the second half. The characters can feels so flat and unrealistic that this book can be difficult to get into. As much as I love Butler she was asking for a lot of suspension of disbelief here and I’m not sure it did her any favors. However it is a really interesting exploration of nature vs. nurture and is an important reminder as to why we cannot just forget about 400 years of visceral pain and suffering. Butler truly puts the reality of slavery (or as much of a reality as we can say bc I feel it’s something you can never truly comprehend unless you’ve been through it) in our faces and it is  unbelievably grueling and heartbreaking just to read. It sort of changes your perspective on what freedom truly means. It was also interesting to see how this insidious system not only harmed those enslaved but the enslavers as well, though it’s not like I really have any sympathy for them. I still feel iffy about how complex of a character Rufus is while many of the enslaved people felt 1 dimensional with their lives being reduced to just that, slaves. 
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