A review by waffles404
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This novel earns an easy four and a half stars out of five. Kindred is incredibly disturbing to put it lightly, but it is more intriguing than off-putting. It has the feeling of reading a horror story that is not based in vampires or zombies; it is frightening because of how real it feels. Kindred terrifies you through historical experiences that slaves had to go through at the time. Octavia Butler has done something incredible by merging this science fiction-fantasy with a neo-slave narrative to bring light to the issues of not only the past but present day as well. 

Spoilers:
The reason this book lost half a star is because the ending left something to be desired as we do not get an explanation. The audience can speculate that Dana goes into the past in order to save her ancestor, Rufus, but it is never explained why her and why that time period, and I wish we got more answers in the end. I suppose it is symbolic of the way that Dana and Kevin never got answers as so much of what happened in the past because for Black people at the time the future was so uncertain.
This novel easily earns the other four and a half stars. The way that Butler portrays relationships in this novel is enchanting, specifically the one between Dana and Rufus. Their relationship ebbs and flows from caring to pure hatred. From seeing him as a little boy, Dana views Rufus as someone who is a product of his time and tries to stop him from becoming like his father, but as we see Rufus grow up to become what Dana feared. It is devastating to watch this development because it is not immune in our present-day. Mothers and sisters watch the boys that they have seen grow up become the monsters that have hurt them despite their best efforts. It was satisfying to watch Dana kill him in the end because it feels like a hope or a promise for the cycle to end.
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